About EFA
EFA - a brief history...
The European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients Associations (EFA) is a European network of allergy, asthma and COPD patient organizations that was founded in 1991 in Stockholm, Sweden.
EFA was created to combine the forces of national patient associations on asthma and allergy for results at European level and to improve the health and quality of life of people in Europe with those diseases. Serving the interests of allergy and airways patients at the national level is the primary responsibility of individual members and EFA's supports member organisations by facilitating the sharing of knowledge and experiences.
EFA's founding countries were: Finland, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) was added to EFA's mandate in 2002.
EFA membership has grown rapidly and now covers most of the European Union countries:Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. There are over 400.000 patient and carer members in EFA member organisations.
EFA is an independent non-profit organization and its central office is located in Brussels, Belgium.
MAIN Sponsors
- AstraZeneca
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Novartis
- UCB Pharma.
Additional information
More Information
EFA's Vision 2005-2008
What is EFA’s guiding vision of success?
EFA's external vision is directly
related to the mission of EFA and focuses on the question of how successful we will be in:
• Influencing policymaking
• Supporting the creation of a European network of strong and professional national organisations
• Empowering member organisations to ensure patients' interests are served in a comparable way across Europe.
Excerpts of EFA's Policy Document 2005-2008 mapping the organization's vision and goals in the short and medium term, can be found throughout this section, however the full document is available to view by members in the 'Members Only' section.