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On 3 October 2025, Active Citizenship Network hosted a closed EU workshop in Brussels, aimed at patient advocacy group representatives from among its partners. This high-level meeting was part of the 2025 project “Advancing Respiratory Care at the EU Level” and built on activities that promote respiratory care across Europe, shifting the EU's approach to respiratory care from emergency-driven responses to integrated, long-term strategies embedded in broader health policies.
During the workshop it was also presented the collaborative Call-to-Action: "Towards the Development of an EU Respiratory Health Plan", drafted by the EU Working Group on Respiratory Care, to promote the inclusion of best practices in the 2025 EU Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) guidelines, as well as strengthening institutional support for high-risk patient care and the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Cittadinanzattiva – coordinator of the new EU-funded project CoRE-Consumer (Re)generation - launched a EU survey to map existing initiatives and identify effective approaches to consumer rights education in schools across Europe. Your input will help us to design a meaningful pilot program to be implemented in a selection of schools.
Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network and the Italian Federation of Incontinent and Stomised Associations (FAIS) have launched a European-wide initiative, with the unconditional support of Coloplast, for the recognition of the rights of people with ostomy. New civic recommendations have been presented. Many people live with invisible health conditions: no topic should be taboo, especially when it comes to individual health.
Around 700,000 people in Europe live with an ostomy, a small pouch attached to the outside of the body to collect waste. It sounds simple, but it's not. There is a lack of training and specialised health workers to provide the short and long-term care these people need to cope with their new reality. Many feel forgotten. They withdraw from daily life. In some cases, they are too afraid to leave their homes for fear of accidents or ridicule.
Another factor is cost. There is no one-size-fits-all solution and the body changes over time.
The ostomy products and the necessary accessories are medical devices, which in some Member States are classified as cosmetics, making reimbursement difficult.
Thanks to “COLLABORATE” - global initiative led by Pfizer - also this year Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network will continue to be engaged on adult rare diseases at the international level with the aim to strengthen evidence base and support communities to activate change. About it, two policy documents, co-developed with the COLLABORATE working groups in 2024 and also endorsed by ACN, have been published.
Working consultations and a special session with the participation of patient organizations from Poland and all the Member States as part of the Polish Presidency of the European Union took place as part of the international conference “10th Health Challenges Congress” in Katowice (Poland) on 13 and 14 March 2025.
For two days (on the 26th and 27th of November 2024), in Madrid the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas facilities have hosted European experts and researchers from 18 scientific and agricultural organisations to begin the development of the EU-funded project “OH-FINE”. This initiative aims to jointly create and share knowledge between European researchers and producers. OH-FINE will identify efficient, healthy, organic and viable alternatives for small farm food production. All this information will then be disseminated and shared at a wider level.
This document was produced as part of the #VaccinAction2024 European project by Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network, in collaboration with and endorsed by 35 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Patients’ Advocacy Groups (PAGs) from 16 Member States—united in their commitment to protecting the health rights of European citizens.
One year after the end of the pandemic, prevention, immunisation and treatment, along with adequate information, remain essential to continue the fight against COVID-19 infections, especially when they threaten the most vulnerable populations.
These were the topics at the heart of the European workshop organised by Active Citizenship Network, which, thanks to the valuable collaboration of external experts, brought together a select number of leaders of civic and patient associations interested in becoming more involved in the contexts in which they already operate.
EU workshop
15 October 2024 – 9.00 – 12.00 CET
Martin's Brussels EU
Boulevard Charlemagne 80, Brussels 1000, Belgium
Meeting Room: Amber & Bronze
Moderator: Daniela Quaggia, Senior Project Manager, Active Citizenship Network (ACN)
On 26 April 2023, Active Citizenship Network organized at the European Parliament in Brussels the 17th European Patients' Rights Day - entirely dedicated to the topic of access to treatment for Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products. On that occasion, the EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides stated that “ATMPs give hope to patients where therapeutic options are currently lacking or non-existent, and they must be able to reach patients sooner. Our priority is always to put patients' interest first".
A year later, on 4 July 2024, Active Citizenship Network organized - in continuity with its commitment to the topic - a high-profile European closed-door meeting starting from that statement, aiming at understanding how to provide eligible patients with faster but also broader access to care.
Cittadinanzattiva APS
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via Imera, 2
00183 Roma
Tel: (+39) 06.36.71.81
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Rue Philippe Le Bon, 46
1000 Brussels - Belgium
