From 24 to 26 March, EFA Community gathered in Ljubljana, Slovenia, hosted by our member Društvo Atopijski Dermatitis, for EFA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Community Meeting. We welcomed 23 member patient organisations from 15 countries across Europe who came together for three enriching days of discussions, experience sharing and peer-to-peer learning.
EFA Community at the AGM 2025 in Ljubljana, Slovenia
EFA AGM 2025
Marcia Podestà, EFA President, chaired the event and welcomed the EFA Community of allergy, atopic eczema, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patient leaders: “You, our members, are the heart and soul of EFA and the highest governing body of our community. Together, we bring patient voices where they matter most.”
Marcia Podestà and Mojca Gobec
EFA community was also honoured to welcome Mojca Gobec, Head Disease and Injury Prevention Division at the Slovenian Ministry of Health to open our AGM. “As I look around the room, I see representatives from patient associations across Europe, united by a common purpose to advocate for and empower the millions facing the daily challenges of allergy, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. To make progress, patients, policymakers and healthcare professionals, we must work together.”
EFA Members from Slovenia and Mojca Gobec
First of all, the AGM elected the new EFA Board, composed of new and re-elected members:
- EFA President Marcia Podestà (Food Allergy Italia)
- Vice-president Karoly Illy (Longfonds, the Netherlands)
- Board Member Fríða Rún ÞÓRÐARDÓTTIR (Allergy and Asthma association of Iceland),
- Board Member Anna ANDRALOJC (Polish Federation of Asthma allergy and COPD Patients’ Associations)
- Board Member Simone Miles (Allergy UK)
- Fríða Rún ÞÓRÐARDÓTTIR (Allergy and Asthma association of Iceland),
- Anna ANDRALOJC (Polish Federation of Asthma allergy and COPD Patients’ Associations)
- Simone Miles (Allergy UK)
The EFA Community looks forward to work with the new board and thanks the previous Board members who led EFA in the past two years: Armando Ruiz (FENAER, Spain), Céline Demoulin (AFPRAL, France), Christine Strouss (LongFonds, the Netherlands).
This year we were also delighted to welcome three new member organisations to EFA community:
- Luxembourg Allergy Network
- Allergissima from Swtizerland
- Asociación de Afectados por la Dermatitis Atópica (AADA) from Spain
Allergissima is a Swiss association based in Lausanne, and was founded with the aim of informing, challenging, intervening and acting to improve the quality of life of people with allergy or intolerances. The association achieves this objective by organising and participating in conferences, meetings and various events, writing and publishing press articles, books, booklets related to this specific field.
Luxembourg Allergy Network was founded in 2015 with a vision to accomplish a fulfilling everyday life for the many people living with allergies in Luxembourg. The association works towards an inclusive and sustainable society by developing education and supporting initiatives that raise awareness and facilitate the management of allergic diseases.
The Asociación de Afectados por la Dermatitis Atópica is a Spanish association based in Madrid and founded in 2017 by a group of patients with severe Atopic Dermatitis. Their mission is to improve patients’ quality of life by organising different activities to raise raise awareness of AD, de-stigmatizing the condition, educating, informing and being the voice of patients before health policy decision-makers.
Newly-elected EFA members 2025
Finally, EFA AGM approved the 2024 EFA activity report and accounts as well as the 2025 EFA workplan and budget. The AGM also adopted the first ever EFA Community Policy on Conflict of Interest and Competing Interest that aims at fostering a safe space at EFA and between member associations driven by collaboration, trust and transparency.
EFA Community Meeting 2025
Following the AGM, the EFA members gathered over three days for the Community Meeting under the theme “The Power Within – Growing Together, Sharing Knowledge, Empowering Our Community”. This was an amazing opportunity for members to empower our community bottom up, discuss the advocacy work of the community at large, share insights and best national practices and strengthen the bond between members. Representatives of EFA’s Sustainable Corporate Partners also joined the first two days of the meeting.
During the first day, we discussed how to increase engagement within the Community and how to improve the internal communication and information sharing within the community. We then had the chance to participate in an interactive session who gave insightful tips and ideas on how to improve our respective organisations’ storytelling for more impactful advocacy work.
Day two started with an inspiring session led by EFA members who shared some of their achievements and best practices with the community. It was a great opportunity to learn and be inspired by what fellow organisations are doing. The sessions included:
- “How fit are your lungs”: presentation of a sustained lung function testing activity in shopping centres by the Austrian Lung Union.
- “Nature health”: insights and research studies on our interlinked connection with the environment and how nature can support allergy and asthma health, presented by the Finnish Allergy and Asthma Federation.
- “Writings in pink”: a national literary contest for women living with COPD, presented by the Italian organisation Respiriamo Insieme
- "The Power of Small Victories". Session on embracing everyday wins, finding positivity in challenges, and using our voices to uplift others facing similar struggles led by Špela Novak, founder and leader of Društvo Atopijski Dermatitis
The day continued with an interactive role play involving our members and corporate partners which helped participants step into the shoes of patient organisations, healthcare professionals, policy makers and corporate partners to share insights, explore solutions and drive meaningful change together.
The second part of the day included a 1) session on youth engagement, where members and external speakers shared their experiences on how to create a civic space for young patient voices as well as more opportunities for young advocates to come forward, and a 2) capacity sharing session where two members shared their learnings on fundraising (presented by the Austrian Lung Union) and the use of AI to support our daily work (presented by Društvo Atopijski Dermatitis).
Finally, during the third day, EFA working groups on atopic eczema, food allergy, allergy and asthma and COPD, came together to discuss their priorities and how to best work together to advance on their specific advocacy work.
We are looking forward to bringing all these fruitful discussions into action during the next months and thank all speakers, members and corporate partners for their active participation and insightful exchanges during these three intense and energising days.