EFA has been busy in May preparing for its Annual General Meeting and Networking Day events, which are taking place in Rome starting on Friday, May 31st. We look forwards to meeting our members, discussing EFA's accomplishments and future plans with them while hearing and learning from members. In May we also prepared and handed over an Allergy Allergy Paper and worked on our projects. To learn more about what we've been doing read our e-Zine and follow EFA on Twitter and Facebook!

Europe's allergy expertise is at risk! 60 million people in Europe suffer from allergy, but there are not enough allergists and general practitioners who are able to diagnose the disease at an early stage. In order to change this worrisome trend, EFA prepared an Allergy Alert Paper requesting changes to healthcare systems across Europe and handed it over to policymakers. Read More...

The debate on the regulation of tobacco related products has been heating up. In May, amendments to the proposed Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) were tabled and several workshops were held. EFA advocates to strengthen provisions in the proposal and has continued to monitor the process very closely. Read More...

In May, we bring you news from our members in Finland, Ireland, the UK, Spain and Portugal. The Finnish Allergy and Asthma Federation has been successful in advocating for it's government's endorsement of strengthened provisions in the new Tobacco Product Directive. Meanwhile, the Asthma Society of Ireland organised many events on World Asthma Day and formed a new alliance to fight for better air quality. Read More...

In May EFA kept on monitoring policy developments in areas relevant to patients suffering from asthma, allergy and COPD. The ENVI Committee discussed amendments to the proposed Tobacco Product Directive and Medical Devices Reuglation and voted on the report on Clinical Trials regulation. Read More...

EFA prepared a new questionnaire on minimum standards for COPD care for Europe and in May the EFA Secretariat finally sent its questionnaire to members representing COPD patients, who are now kindly asked to answer them. A new free Allergy Track app developed with input from EFA has been launched and is available online. Read More...

Patients' involvement is key - that is one of the main principles highlighted at meetings EFA attended in May. Whether EFA participated in events focused on medicines, research, malnutrition or health policies, patients' participation and their active involvement were pointed out as crucial for future development and improvement of health care systems in Europe. Read More...