The European Lung Health Group comes together in Brussels to launch the #KeepBreathing campaign and discuss opportunities for better lung health in view of upcoming European elections. Learn more about the campaign.
The ELHG meeting in Brussels in February 2024.
The European Lung Health Group (ELHG), an informal grouping of patients and healthcare professionals’ organisations representatives, met in Brussels at the end of February to mark the launch of their #KeepBreathing campaign. This is a multiannual, multistakeholder advocacy effort to reduce fragmentation of knowledge and policies around lung health at the European level. The campaign is being coordinated and funded through EFA’s was launched under the coordination of EFA’s BREATHE Vision for 2030 project.
New advocacy document: “#KeepBreathing: A vision for EU action on lung health 2024-2029”
Following the launch of its new publication “#KeepBreathing: A vision for EU action on lung health 2024-2029”, in the context of the #KeepBreathing campaign for lung health, the nine ELHG member organisations, including EFA, celebrated the launch of an EU action on lung health, laying out immediate actions in three areas offering sustained, focused and achievable actions to develop EU policies which are coherent for lung health: prevention, care, research & innovation.
Discussions at the Parliament: MEP Lung Health Group online event and press release
The launch of the #KeepBreathing vision was supported by the MEP Lung Health Group, who have discussed the opportunities for better lung health at the European level, especially in the context of the upcoming European elections in an online event earlier in February. The event was hosted by the co-chair of the MEP Lung Health Group, MEP Tomislav Sokol (Croatia/EPP), with the participation of MEP Radka Maxová (Czechia/S&D) and MEP Stelios Kympouropoulos (Greece/EPP), introductory remarks by Dr Eva Polverino (European Respiratory Society) and Marcia Podestà (European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients’ Associations). Following the event, the ELHG also published a press release, with the MEPs’ concerns over EU budget cuts to health resources and its effects on lung health.
High-level discussions on lung health with key EU policymakers
With the occasion of the ELHG organisations present in Brussels, a high-level meeting took place in the presence of various relevant policymakers and the participation of the representatives from the European Commission. We reinstated the commitment of the respiratory community to collaborate with the European Commission, the relevant EU agencies, and the Member States, to better protect and prepare citizens’ lung health, and to realise this vision of a healthier and stronger Europe. During this meeting, EFA’s board member, Christine Strous, put forward points related to the importance of healthcare systems sustainability and strengthening in the context of preparedness and response for the next respiratory crisis, important for the respiratory community.
Join the #KeepBreathing campaign!
Share the campaign with your network, and make use of targeted messaging of Keep Breathing vision: prevent, healthcare, research & innovation. Follow the ELHG for more updates on the social media channels:
- Twitter/X: @EuroLungHealth
- LinkedIn: @ European Lung Health Group
- Website: www.breathevision.eu