On 27-28 April 2023, EFA held its first hybrid Annual General Meeting (AGM) followed by an in-person Members’ Community Meeting in Ghent, Belgium. EFA was glad to have our Belgian member organisation, Asthma-en Allergiekoeppel vzw as our host.
During the business session, and after detailed presentation of all of the items, the AGM approved EFA’s 2022 Annual Report and accounts, and it adopted the 2023 Workplan and budget and approved to maintain the membership at EUR 500 / year.
A new EFA Board
This year we have also hosted EFA Board Election, all five seats of the board were up for elections, including President, Vice-President and three board members. Our former president, Carla Jones (Allergy UK) has served the maximum of six years on the board, while Yvonne Spies (Longfonds), our former treasurer, was unable to commit for elections. Three current Members were re-elected to run: Marcia Podesta (Food Allergy Italia) was elected EFA President, Armando Ruiz (FENAER) is our new EFA Vice-President, while Fríða Rún Þórðardóttir (Asthma and Allergy Society of Iceland) as our Secretary. EFA had two more ‘open’ seats on the board, which were appointed to Christine Strous (Longfonds) and Céline Dumoulin (AFPRAL). Congratulations to our newly elected Board Members!
Towards an EFA Community – The pivotal role of Members Meeting Committee in the organisation of the Members’ Community Meeting
In connection with its first hybrid Annual General Meeting (AGM) EFA hosted the Members’ Community Meeting. This year, for the first time, EFA worked closely with Members Meeting Committee (composed of EFA Members), who advised and supported EFA Board in developing, planning, and implementing the programme for this meeting. The EFA Members Meeting Committee helped to ensure that the programme addressed the interests, needs and topics of EFA members. The committee worked on a voluntary basis, with the mission of building an EFA community focused event, anchored in EFA’s Vision for a Europe where all patients with allergies, asthma and COPD have the right to best quality of care, safe environment, and are involved in all decisions affecting their health.
Are you an EFA Member? Are you interested to help co-designing the Members’ Community Meeting 2024? Share your interest in joining a Members Meeting Committee.
Members Community Meeting
The aim of the meeting was to reinforce and showcase that the added value of being an EFA member lay in the interaction and co-creation among members. The meeting featured best practice pitching, which encouraged organisations to inspire and learn from each-other, but it also gave the opportunity to spotlight members accomplishments and highlight the excellence and resourcefulness of the network. The programme also featured a social media session led by an expert in strategic communication and public relations as well as two EFA Members, who shared examples of successful campaigning through a thoughtful use of social media. We concluded day one of the community meeting with the EFA Patients Digital Prize Award Ceremony, a recognition granted by patients to reward those digital health initiatives that centre patients through their design, accessibility, and efficacy. The ceremony was broadcasted live across EFA channels, the winners were recognized by patients at European level as forward thinkers, engaged in empowering people with asthma and COPD to improve health outcomes, and key digital health partners.
The meeting continued the following day with the recurring EFA working groups focusing on strengthening advocacy as well as updating and gathering EFA members’ feedback and opinions on EFA’s ongoing projects and initiatives. We have concluded the meeting with one last session where patients and EFA members shared the challenges that they face as individuals and organisations regarding accessibility of meetings, followed by sharing best practices/projects from EFA members on addressing those needs. Finally, we debated on the solutions we need as a community to ensure safe meetings for our patient community. The meeting was attended by 20 members of EFA who were very satisfied with both EFA Annual General Meeting – Business Session and Members’ Community Meeting programme and stated that they have learnt a lot or a great deal.
EFA Annual General Meeting and Members' Community Meeting 2024
EFA has been kindly invited by Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association, in collaboration with Swedish Heart and Lung Association to host the EFA Annual General Meeting and Members' Community Meeting 2024 in Stockholm, Sweden. EFA was honoured to accept this invitation and look forward to welcoming the EFA Members to another engaging and fruitful meeting.