Official agreement with the World Federation of Public Health Associations
Active Citizenship Network is glad to announce an official agreement with the World Federation of Public Health Associations. WFPHA is an international non-governmental organisation of approximately 140 member associations, mainly national multidisciplinary public health associations, representing about 5 million public health professionals worldwide. It is the only global professional organisation representing and serving the broad public health sector. The Memorandum of Understanding was officially approved by the WFPHA General Assembly in Geneva. To know more, click here.

Active Citizens in Europe Advocate for (adult) Vaccination
On 25 June, our training and advocacy event in Brussels brought together representatives of civic and patient associations from 12 European countries. Together, we explored key immunisation issues with the WHO Regional Office for Europe - Vaccination Policy team (Siddhartha Sankar Datta and Siff Malue Nielsen) and with Stefano Vella, adjunct professor of global health at the Catholic University in Rome. With them we also co-created the strategies for Civic Recommendations on Vaccination Policies in the EU and the #VaccinAction2024 social media campaign with Stripe Communications. Click here to watch the photo gallery, and read key takeaways, programme and presentations.

Towards country-observatories for vaccination promotion: sharing experiences
The EU workshop “Towards country-observatories for vaccination promotion: the role of civic and patient organisations” organized in Brussels by Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network on 26 June in the framework of the EU-funded project co-OPERATOR, aimed at laying the groundwork for the involvement in the project of civic and patient organisations committed to vaccination policies at European level. To this end, good practices implemented in this field by the Netherlands, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Malta, Croatia, Ireland and Poland were presented. Click here for the photo gallery, programme & presentations.

How to provide eligible patients with faster and wider access to advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), experts speak
On 4 July 2024, Active Citizenship Network organized a high-profile European closed-door meeting involving experts from different Countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, UK), aiming at understanding how to provide eligible patients with faster but also broader access to care. The backbone of the discussion was the study conducted by the #VITA consortium, that was drafted in collaboration with theALTEMS department at the Università Cattolica di Roma and LS Cube law firm.
To read more, click here.

The new EU Institutions are called to tackle the health workforce crisis, the main precondition for greater protection of patients' rights across Europe.
Civic organisations and patient advocacy groups, together with health professional associations, call on European policy makers to address the health workforce crisis by implementing solutions that prioritise the wellbeing of health workers, probably the most important precondition for greater protection of patients' rights across Europe. Read the article written by ACN’s Director published - as a follow-up to the 18th European Patients’ Rights Day - in the peer-reviewed journal Clinics in Nursing.

Active Citizenship Network keeps growing, and not only in Europe. In this newsletter we report on a number of agreements formalised at national and international level, which testify on the one hand to a growing interest in our work and on the other hand to our willingness to work in synergy with the many civil society actors pursuing common goals.

Signed an official agreement with Irish Patients’ Association
Active Citizenship Network is glad to announce the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with its Irish historical partner. Founded in 1995, the Irish Patients’ Association (IPA) was Ireland’s first cross-disease patient advocacy group. The IPA has worked with ACN for 22 years and was one of the co-signatories of the European Charter of Patients’ Rights promoted by ACN in 2002. Read more.

Official agreement with Fundacja STOMAlife from Poland
In line with its commitment to intimate health conditions, Active Citizenship Network signed an official Memorandum of Understanding with Fundacja STOMAlife. Founded in 2015, the STOMAlife Foundation fights against the social exclusion of ostomate patients. Its aim is to break the taboo associated with ostomy and educate patients and the public about the facts and myths associated with it. Read more.

New partnership with Institute of Research for Innovation and Development from Greek  
Active Citizenship Network is pleased to announce that an official Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with the Institute of Research for Innovation and Development of Greece. The mutual decision follows the study visit that took place at the Cittadinanzattiva- Active Citizenship Network headquarters realized in April by the leaders of the Institute of Research. Read more.

Official agreement with SIBAHE, Slovenian foodbank
In the field of humanitarian aid and protection of vulnerable population, Active Citizenship Network signed an official Memorandum of Understanding with SIBAHE, the Slovenian foodbank, ACN's long-standing partner in the context of consumer and patient rights. Read more.

Media partnership agreement with Medvix publications LLC
Editor of the Journal of Medical and Clinical Case Reports (ISSN 2997-6022) and other peer-reviewed journals, Medvix is an international publication that serves as a platform for the global community of research scholars. It provides a space for researchers from various disciplines to share their findings, exchange ideas, and contribute to the advancement of knowledge in their respective fields. Read more.

17 July 2024 | Brussels (Belgium): International Conference on Digital Health Literacy
At the International Conference on Digital Health Literacy, the European Health Charter, a set of recommendations and guidelines on digital health literacy, will be presented. The aim of the Charter is to implement good and correct digital health information in schools and other settings.
The event will be attended by the winners of the national communication campaigns, who will present their projects on the topic. The event will be held on 17 July from 15:00 in Brussels (Sala Artemisia, Mundo Madou, Av. des Arts 7/8).
Click here for free registration.
The initiative is part of the European project BLISS - Boosting health LIteracy for School Students, of which Cittadinanzattiva is leader. OBESSU is organising the final international conference, bringing together a range of stakeholders in digital health literacy and civic engagement.
Click here to see all the communication campaigns that participated in the competition.

10 September 2024 | Brussels (Belgium) & online: Final Conference of the ExACT Project featuring PROPHET!
The ExACT project (European network staff eXchange for integrAting precision health in the health Care sysTems) is excited to announce its final conference on Precision Health, focusing on the contributions of international collaboration from a multidisciplinary perspective. The day's sessions will cover several relevant topics, with an emphasis on disruptive innovation and multidisciplinary models for engaging stakeholders in precision health. PROPHET, the EU project on personalized prevention in which Cittadinanzattiva is a partner, will be presented in the second part of the day, highlighting the creation of synergies in European research. To register, please click here. Important: a limited number of places are available in person. Once sold out, participants will only be able to join remotely. To find out more, see the AGENDA.

10 September 2024 | Brussels (Belgium): HERA Civil Society Forum meeting
As an official member of the Civil Society Forum, Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network has been invited by DG HERA to participate in the annual meeting in September. The Civil Society Forum facilitates stakeholder interactions and serves as a contact point between HERA and stakeholders representing patients, consumers and health professionals. Read more about the programme and minutes of the previous meeting.

18-20 September 2024 | Valencia (Spain): EuGMS Congress
On the occasion of the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS) annual congress, the Director of Active Citizenship Network has been invited to the panel of the session “Impact and strengths of coalition partnerships to increase vaccination coverage rates”, organized by ESWI together with the EUGMS. Read more.

24 September 2024 | Brussels (Belgium): “Informing National Adult Immunization Strategies and Action”
Invited by the International Federation on Ageing (IFA), the Director of ACN will participate in the in-person EU workshop. The initiative aims to leverage the work of experts, organizations, and governments at the national level to develop a targeted approach to immunization policy, taking into account each country's specific context, policies, programmes and attitudes towards immunisation.
This in-person meeting follows the virtual meeting on 20 June 2024, which mobilized knowledge among European experts to raise public awareness of current adult immunisation initiatives in France and Germany. Read more.