EFA’s outreach efforts in 2023 helped bring patients’ needs to public health debates across Europe and worldwide, online and offline, amplifying our advocacy work on allergy and airways diseases and ensuring the European patients voices have a space to be heard and understood.
In 2023, EFA continued expanding our corporate website and social media platforms to improve the way we inform, connect, and engage with our European communities. We participated in the global debates affecting allergy and respiratory health, stepping in at the time of decision-making opportunities and events and joining awareness raising days digitally.
EFA corporate website: efanet.org
The main source for information on EFA’s advocacy in the form of news, publications, events, and membership is our corporate website: efanet.org. In 2023, we continued working on making our website more coherent, harmonised, and updated. The website counted more than 14,300 visitors in 2023.
At the same time, EFA worked on improving the visual identity and content development of the efanet.org hubs packaging EFA campaigns and projects – World Atopic Eczema Day campaign page, the AtopicalLives exhibition and the Allergy and Asthma Youth Parliament website.
World Atopic Eczema DayWorld Atopic Eczema Day is an international initiative by EFA in coordination with the International Alliance of Dermatology Patient Organizations (GlobalSkin) to raise awareness about the disease globally and across Europe.
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Atopical Lives ExhibitionThe #AtopicalLives exhibition is an EFA project started in 2018 in collaboration with members associations across Europe. The project features real people of all age groups living with atopic eczema, portraying for the first time the real life and burden with the disease.
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Allergy and Asthma Youth ParliamentBringing together young allergy and asthma patients and medical professionals from all over Europe, the European Allergy and Asthma Youth Parliament advocates on the pressing issues for young patients.
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EFA Newsletter
In 2023, our corporate newsletter was sent to a subscriber list of over 900 recipients from diverse regions spanning across multiple countries. It summarized our work throughout the year across three key areas: inform, prevent, care. The newsletter achieved an impressive total opening rate of 51% and a unique opening rate of 31%. The substantial opening rates of our corporate newsletter indicate strong engagement and interest among EFA Communities and subscribers, reflecting a collective commitment to our mission.
EFA Social Media platforms
We continued advocating on X, LinkedIn, and Facebook connecting with our European communities worldwide. On LinkedIn, EFA increased its followers by 20%, (reaching 1,920), gathering a truly European professional audience.
On YouTube, EFA published 17 new videos, some of them translated into European languages. We actively used YouTube to promote live recordings of our events, like the AboutAsthma.org launch webinar. Linked to that work, 2018 project Severely, asthma episodes generated +2,400 organic views and the 2023 AtopicalLives video series was viewed +870 times. In total, EFA gained 39 YouTube followers.
EFA’s presence and engagement across various social media platforms over time have enabled us to reach different target audiences effectively. Specifically, on X, our concise updates and real-time engagement have resonated well with followers seeking immediate information and updates. Facebook gathers longer-form content and community discussions. LinkedIn, with its professional networking focus, has allowed us to engage with stakeholders and policymakers, amplifying our advocacy efforts and driving meaningful conversations about allergy and airways diseases. Finally, our presence on YouTube has provided an invaluable platform for educational content, reaching audiences through visually engaging videos that inform, empower, and inspire action toward better respiratory health.
EFA social media communities in 2023
@EFA_Patients: 2,629 followers (142 new) and 94,636 impressions
@efanet: 1,920 followers (446 new) and 210,166 impressions
@EFAPatients: 2564 followers and 342,687 reach
@EFAADPA: 256 followers (39 new) and 133,405 impressions
International awareness-raising days
In 2023, EFA participated in five international days and engaged in EU and European awareness raising actions and conversations.
Like every year, on World Asthma Day 2023, EFA joined the conversation on X, LinkedIn and Facebook to raise awareness about the importance of having patients access to multidisciplinary care and trustworthy educational materials for improved asthma management and quality of life, a teaser for the EFA AboutAsthma.org website to come. Given the day is getting more attention among high level policy-makers, we thanked Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Director-General of WHO, for his engagement with the day, who then publicly thanked EFA for our invaluable work.
EFA marked World No Tobacco Day 2023 on to call for a #TobaccoFreeGeneration in Europe. We repeated #NoTobacco and urged for the enforcement of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and updated EU legislation on the and consumption of tobacco and novel smoking products. With more than 30% of the EU population exposed to second-hand smoke, EFA reminded the EU policymakers of the urgent need to establish larger smoke-free environments.
World Atopic Eczema Day 2023 was the 6th international awareness day, a global event led by EFA in coordination with GlobalSkin. We launched the #IfYouOnlyKnew campaign, on X, LinkedIn, and Facebook, to highlight the psychosocial burden carried by children and the youth living with atopic eczema. To mobilise these communities in Europe and globally, we developed a campaign toolkit based on quotes from young patients from all over the world. As part of WAED 2023 campaign, EFA generated 150,000+ impressions and 20,000+ users reached.
On the day, EFA published a new #AtopicalLives video series, portraying the real, daily lives of child and adult patients living with atopic eczema in Europe. The two videos titled ‘Skin in the game’ and ‘Under the skin you see’ were produced in collaboration with EFA Member associations from Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey and are translated in national languages. Following the release of the new #AtopicalLives episodes, EFA generated +7,800 organic views on its channels and more than 100,000 views among the community members.
On World COPD Day, EFA used X and LinkedIn to call on the EU to invest more in COPD Standards of Care - better prevention, diagnosis, multidisciplinary care, and rehabilitation for patients - in line with our COPD community project.
On World Lung Day 2023, EFA published a press release and launched a dissemination campaign on X, LinkedIn and Facebook announcing the launch of a new educational tool: AboutAsthma.org. The new website is an accurate and patient-friendly source of information about asthma management, prevention, and life with asthma, addressed to patients, carers, and patient associations.
- World Asthma Day – 2 May 2023 #WorldAsthmaDay
- World No Tobacco Day – 31 May 2023 #WorldNoTabaccoDay #WNTB
- World Atopic Eczema Day – 14 September 2023 #AtopicEczemaDay #IfYouOnlyKnew
- World Lung Day – 25 September 2023 #WorldLungDay
- World COPD Day – 15 November 2023 #WorldCOPDDay