This event has ended. Recordings of the event are available to watch below.
This year will see almost 49% of the global population vote in an election. These will cover European, national, regional and local elections.
This means we have a great opportunity to get lung health on the political agenda and ensure that politicians are working to improve healthcare and address the issues that can lead to poor lung health.
In this event we discussed the importance of patient advocacy, looked at ways in which you can engage politicians and spoke about the #KeepBreathing campaign.
This informative and interactive lunchtime event took place on Tuesday 12 March 2024, 12:30-13:45 CET and is part of a series of live webinars related to the European Patient Ambassador Programme, a free, online, self-learning programme that introduces patients and carers to some of the basic skills and knowledge needed to represent yourself and others successfully.
The event will be chaired by ELF Director Pippa Powell and ELF Chair Dimitris Kontopidis.
Dimitris Kontopidis is Chair of the European Lung Foundation. Dimitris is a cystic fibrosis patient and advocate and has been deeply involved in developing healthcare policy for chronic diseases. Dimitris chose not to have a lung transplant and by doing so brought ‘medicine for all’ to the forefront of Greek politics, helping to save the lives of many people with cystic fibrosis.
Sophie is HEAL’s EU Policy Coordinator, coordinating HEAL’s overall policy input into decision-making processes, representing the views of HEAL to the EU institutions, and building capacity among HEAL’s membership.
Mikaela Odemyr is the Chair of the European Lung Foundation's Patient Advisory Committee and President of the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association. Mikaela has been involved in patient advocacy for over 15 years, with a special focus on raising awareness of severe asthma and allergies. She draws on her experiences as a patient and parent, as well as her interactions with lung patients across Europe. Mikaela has held senior roles with national and European patient organisations and has worked with politicians, health professionals and policy-makers at all levels to improve treatment and care.
Isabel Proaño is Director of Policy and Communications at the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients Associations (EFA), an umbrella patient group that gathers 45 national patient associations in 26 countries. Isabel leads EFA’s advocacy towards the EU institutions and WHO Europe with a health-in-all-policies approach, touching upon healthcare and access legislation as well as public health, environmental exposure and climate change policies.
