Living with allergies and airways diseases has become a daily burden for over 200 million people in Europe. The drastic increase of people living with allergy, asthma and COPD has overwhelmed European healthcare systems but has not triggered an adequate policy response.
To draw attention to the burden these diseases present, EFA has launched #ShowLeadership, an awareness campaign aimed at encouraging European policy makers to improve current policies and tackle this issue by working together.
Marking the celebration of World Health Day on April, EFA launched #ShowLeadership on April 8th.
Patient-centred survey carried out in 7 countries – Results unveiled monthly
In 2018, EFA carried out the Active Patients Access Care survey amongst asthma and COPD patients from seven European countries. The results will be unveiled on a monthly basis, highlighting the current situation of people living with asthma and COPD, as well as the needs that remain to be addressed, and linking the report to key international and European moments.
Health is not in all policies, patients dissatisfied
In reference to the #ShowLeadership campaign launch, and April’s theme on health in all policies, EFA President Mikaela Odemyr said: “The Active Patients Access Care survey shows us shocking facts about the number of patients who end up in the emergency room, even though they have access to treatment. What this tells me is that we need a better and more holistic policy response to ensure this number does not increase further. It means that actions ought to be taken, in the healthcare space and beyond, to improve the situation”.
Campaign gains big support by MEPs
One week after its launch, #ShowLeadership has already gained substantial support by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), committing themselves to drive policies for allergy and airways diseases. We like to already thank Anna Záborská, Biljana Borzan, David Borrelli, Dr. Andrey Kovatchev, Dr. Miriam Dalli, Dubravka Šuica, José Inácio Faria, Kateřina Konečná, Lieve Wierinck, Nathalie Griesbeck, Nessa Childers, Pavel Poc, Seán Kelly and Sirpa Pietikäinen for committing themselves to #showleadership in their parliamentary work and beyond.
For more information and to support our campaign, visit the #ShowLeadership website.