5th & 6th May 2021
from 10:00 to 12:00 CET

Active Citizenship Network (ACN) is glad to invite you to the 15th European Patients’ Rights Day that will be celebrated with a digital conference on 5th & 6th May 2021 titled “The role of civic society and Patients Advocacy Groups for more resilient Health Care Systems. Lessons learned toward a European Health Union”.
The 2021 conference will focus on showing and discussing examples of citizen’s engagement in health policies in this particular historical moment: a first day, dedicated to the health challenges faced by non-COVID patients and a second day, focused on the resilience of Healthcare Systems and the national immunization plans.
Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic is placing a huge strain on health systems, worldwide it forced to adapt, to innovate care management in some cases and it has had a major impact on citizens’ lives in several respects. One of the most important has been the limited access to different health services. Alternative organizational solutions are therefore needed to guarantee continuity and quality. Our commitment is to engage citizens and citizens’ associations across Europe to better know and implement health policies.

We hope to welcome you virtually at our event!

To join the conference, please register  here (registration is mandatory).

To learn more about the conference please click here .

Click here to know more about the engagement of Cittadinanzattiva/Active Citizenship Network in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Towards A European Health Union: The Key Role of the Civil Society and Patients Advocacy Groups for More Resilient Health Care Systems
The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on citizens’ lives on several aspects. One of the most important has been the limited access to different health services. For Active Citizenship Network, the European branch of Cittadinanzattiva - a civic organization which promotes (since 1978 in Italy and since 2001 at EU level) citizens’ activism for the protection of everyone’s rights, maintaining the common good, and offering support to people in vulnerable conditions - it is not acceptable to respond to the immediate needs of citizens facing the Covid-19 pandemic simply by closing services. Instead, alternative organizational solutions are needed to guarantee continuity and quality. Read the article wrote by the Director of ACN and published by “Family Medicine & Medical Science Research”.

What does the European Patients’ Rights Day mean to you? Send us your video-message!
The European Patients’ Rights Day has become a regular annual event on the European and national political agendas to inform, discuss and take commitments to improve patients’ rights in Europe and in each Member State. Every year, also thanks to the more than one hundred patient and civic associations of our network, the EPRD is celebrated in hundreds of cities and ways all around Europe (here there are some examples of the celebrations in 2017,2018,2019,2020).
What does it represent for you? Send us your video-message (max 30 seconds) and we’ll publish it on our channels. For further information, please, contact us: brussels@activecitizenship.net.

Submission of good practices on citizen & patient organizations’ engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic: tell us your experience!
We are looking for good examples of citizens’ engagement in health policies in this particular historical moment about:
a) activities dedicated to health challenges faced by non-COVID patients
b) experiences related to the resilience of Healthcare Systems for COVID patients
c) experiences related to the resilience of the national immunization plans during and after the pandemic.

If you can identify and give details of one or more initiatives that you/your organization has experienced or that has been realized in your country, please fill out this form.
Please, contact us (brussels@activecitizenship.net) if you have any questions about the process.

National & local celebrations for the European Patients’Rights Day
Please, if also you would like to add your event for the celebration of the European Patients’ Rights Day in your Country, write to Daniela Quaggia: d.quaggia@activecitizenship.net.

Portugal celebrates 15 years of the European Patients' Rights Day
The new Europe's Beating Cancer Plan, 2021-2024, has a primary objective where preventionis the greatest gain in health. According to Portuguese MEP Sara Cerdas, it is necessary to act on the known causes of cancer and in all the forms already determined by science as responsible for the development of the disease.The European Union aims to eradicate bad living habits and promote healthy and sustainable diets, as well as the adoption of other habits with a focus on environmental agents, which promote quality of life at all stages of the disease. This theme is the pillar of the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the European Patients 'Rights Day in Portugal, organized by AESEP (Associação Europeia de Saúde Educativa e Preventiva em Epigenética) and supported also by ACN. Read more (PT language)

Albania: Patients’ rights, "Together for Life" wins all the cases in court
On the occasion of the Annual European Patients 'Rights Day, "Together for Life" (TFL), historic national partner from Albania of ACN, celebrates its commitment to protect patients' rights with important legal awards.
Three children gained their rights after three years of efforts and commitment of "Together for Life" organisation in Albania to address the issue of children born with hearing problems.
The Administrative Court of Tirana decided to accept the request of the TFL's lawyer to compensate with 9,300,000 all the family of a 5-year-old patient with hearing problems, meanwhile for the second case the hospital decided to approve the agreement to include the child on the waiting list and the third case benefited from the surgery after one year of positive pressure on the public institutions.
For five years now, "Together for Life" has been working on the issue of cochlear implant surgery for children born with hearing problems. For the last years TFL have supported this issue and TFL have been to the parliament, in hearings and asked for the cochlear implant to be included in the health budget. Fortunately, in October 2020, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection declared that each year 20 children will profit from this service. Read more (Albanian language).

Thanks to the Media Partners of the European Patients’ Rights Day 2021: