The EFA Community held its Annual General Meeting and Community Meeting in Ljubljana from 24 to 26 March. We welcomed 23 members from 15 countries across Europe, who gathered during three intense days of discussions, experience sharing, and peer-to-peer learning. It was an amazing opportunity to welcome new members, strengthen connections and share insights on how to better advocate for improved action on prevention, care and climate change for people with allergy, asthma and COPD.

The European Commission’s 2025 Work Programme prioritises competitiveness, market regulation, defence, and migration, marking a clear shift away from prevention-focused health policies. While initiatives like the Critical Medicines Act and the Pharmaceutical Package aim to improve patient access to treatments, the plan lacks measures on prevention to address chronic diseases, tobacco control, and indoor air quality. With negotiations for the next EU health budget underway, EFA will continue advocating for stronger public health policies that put allergy and respiratory patients first.

For another year, EFA is supporting its members with a funding scheme to organise awareness-raising activities ahead of World Atopic Eczema Day 2025. Selected projects will receive up to €1,000 to boost their communication and outreach efforts at national and local levels. This initiative strengthens the EFA atopic eczema community, empowering members to advocate for better care, foster engagement and amplify the voices of people affected by atopic eczema. EFA looks forward to continuing this mission in 2025 — stay tuned for the upcoming World Atopic Eczema Day 2025 toolkit that will be published in May. 

EFA is excited to have joined the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology’s (EADV) Patient Advocacy Taskforce. This setup aims to building collaboration between dermatologists and patient organisations, focusing on advancing atopic eczema prevention and care across Europe. We will also discuss patient education and awareness raising initiatives like World Atopic Eczema Day, opportunities for patient involvement in EADV’s annual Congress and meetings, and fostering connections between #EFACommunity and healthcare professionals.

On 25 February 2025, EFA hosted the first meeting of the LungHealth4Life Community of Practice (CoP), uniting 38 experts across Europe to address lung health challenges for young people. At the heart of the Lung Health for Life EU-funded project and coordinated by EFA, the CoP is a collaborative platform that brings together healthcare, education, and policy experts to share knowledge and create solutions for better lung health.

EFA has submitted its response to the European Commission’s evaluation of the Medical Device Regulation (MDR) that entered into force in 2022. Our key recommendations emphasise the need to maintain strong patient safety standards and centre around better patient education, improved usability of inhalers and nasal sprays, increased patient representation in regulatory bodies, clearer pathways for reporting safety concerns, and the establishment of a centralised EU medical device agency to streamline authorisation and vigilance. We also advocate for clearer regulation of combination products, support for innovation, and better access to spare parts.

EFA has submitted its response to the European Commission’s Critical Medicines Act, stressing the need for a broader approach to medicines shortages beyond industrial considerations and supply chains. We call for greater patient involvement, improved health literacy, and the use of patient-reported outcomes to assess shortages' impact. Additionally, we emphasise the importance of ensuring medicine imports meet EU standards and that procurement policies consider patient accessibility.

The next World Health Assembly (WHA) will vote mid-May in Geneva on a key resolution addressing ‘Skin Disease as a Global Public Health Priority’. The draft resolution on skin diseases covers a wide range of conditions, including atopic eczema and skin allergies. The draft resolution has been championed by our partner GlobalSkin and the international coalition on skin diseases, of which EFA is partner. We invite the whole community to reach their national ministries to adopt the resolution!

Climate change is making life harder for allergy, skin and respiratory disease patients as it increases the pollen seasons, provokes floods and extreme heat impacting air quality and worsening symptoms. EFA is advocating to ensure public health and vulnerable groups like patients are at the core of climate policies in the EU, to improve mitigation and increase adaptation mechanisms. Visit our website to find the latest evidence, data, and policy recommendations to support advocacy for health-focused climate policies.

The hearing aimed at gathering actionable ideas to inform the development of the second WHO European Programme of Work. In our contributions, EFA highlighted that climate change should be a central component of the next WHO Europe strategic priorities 2026–2030 and stressed the importance of assessing and addressing the link between climate change and health, which is still considered too often separately. The WHO Programme of Work will be adopted in October.

The newly elected EFA Vice President Mr Károly Illy represented EFA and his home association the Dutch Lung Foundation (Longfonds) at the 2nd World Health Organization Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health. He urged to take action to tackle Europe’s top environmental health threat: air pollution. EFA called for real-time air quality alerts, clearer health messaging, and tools to support vulnerable communities against air pollution. Alongside the EU Healthy Air Coalition (EUHAC), EFA is advocating for stronger policies to protect public health and ensure clean air for all.

On 8 March, Respiriamo Insieme launched Scritture in Rosa (Writings in Pink), a literary contest highlighting women’s experiences with COPD. Despite rising cases, the disease is often overlooked or seen from a male perspective. The contest aims to highlight women's experiences and challenges of living with COPD and encourage storytelling as a way to foster awareness and well-being.