ELF holds first meeting with working group to plan patient input into the ERS Congress 2026

The ERS Congress is an annual international event that brings together stakeholders from across the respiratory community to hear the latest developments in lung research and care, and develop opportunities for collaboration.

The theme of the 2026 Congress, “United for better breathing: partnership between patients, clinicians and researchers​”, places patient partnership at its core. This creates a valuable opportunity for ELF’s network to highlight patient priorities, share real-world experiences and showcase examples of good practice from across our community. 

The Congress Working Group met for the first time in January 2026 to begin planning around the patient-centred theme. 14 representatives took part, including individual patients, carers and representatives from European patient organisations. During the meeting, the group discussed a wide range of topics, including: 

• Collating feedback on what worked well at the 2025 ERS Congress and identifying areas for improvement 

• Refining proposals for patient-centred studio sessions, ensuring they align with key patient priorities. 

• Discussing a special ELF-ERS symposium focused on patient-professional partnership in practice, highlighting innovative approaches from patient organisations 

• Developing shared aims for ELF’s annual Patient Organisation Networking Day at the Congress 

• Identifying ways to better prioritise patient representative access needs within a large conference venue. 

To find out more about the ERS Congress theme and priority topics for 2026, please visit the ERS website.