Towards a standardised framework for patients' rights at the European level
We would like to congratulate the Polish institutions on the political value of their decision to include the topic of patients' rights in the programme of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, thus placing it at the centre of the European political agenda. As underlined in the recently published White Paper “Healthcare Policy Recommendations”, the willingness to take concrete steps towards the official adoption of the European Charter of Patients' Rights represents a fundamental step. Read more

Patient organisations call for harmonisation of patients' rights in the European Union
Active Citizenship Network is working closely with the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU, whose objective is to institutionalise the principles of patients’ rights at European level - contained in the European Charter of Patients’ Rights, drawn up by Active Citizenship Network in 2002 with civil society and patients’ organisations from different Member States - and integrate them into the acquis communautaire. This relevant political objective was discussed at the international conference “10th Health Challenges Congress” in Katowice on 13 and 14 March 2025. The demands of the patient organisations and the joint conclusions will soon be presented to the public and the EU institutions. Read and endorse the final declaration!

Living with an ostomy: from invisible struggles to visible change
Special session

Rights of people with an ostomy: the challenge reaches Brussels
Access to care, adequate healthcare pathways and the removal of barriers to guaranteeing the rights of people with ostomies must be a priority at European level. In Brussels, discussions are underway on how to guarantee equity and quality of life for thousands of citizens. Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network and FAIS OdV Italia, thanks to the unconditional support of Coloplast, have presented at the EU Parliament the civic recommendations and “(IN)VISIBLE”, the first EU awareness campaign on ostomy. Read the article (IT – EN) on ACN’s media partner TrendSanità.

To learn more about the initiative, click here.
To read the concept note of the event, click here.
To download the complete speakers' list, click here.
To download the Civic Recommendations and the concept of the “(IN)VISIBLE” awareness campaign on ostomy, click here.
To see the photo gallery on the LinkedIn profile of Active Citizenship Network, click here
Here you can find some posts about the event on social media: A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I

MEP Stefano Bonaccini (S&D group), Italy
In 2009 he was appointed Secretary of the Democratic Party of Emilia-Romagna, a position he held until May 2015. In March 2010 he was elected to the Regional Council of Emilia-Romagna. On 23 November 2014, he was elected President of the Regional Council of Emilia-Romagna with 49% of the vote. In the 2024 European elections he was elected in the North-East constituency with over 390,000 preferences.

Gaya Cuppone, testimonial of the (IN)VISIBLE communication campaign
Gaya Cuppone is 24 years old and from Novara, Italy. She works in the office of a luxury brand and in her spare time she works as a model and content creator to raise awareness about ostomy issues.
She has had Crohn's disease for 14 years and an ostomy for six.

Maria Haß, Deutsche ILCO e.V., Germany
Born in 1954, Maria Haß has been living with an ostomy for almost 50 years. Crohn’s disease and surgeries were important for many decisions during her professional and private life. Living in Germany, married. Retired from professional work since September 2020.

MEP Letizia Moratti (EPP group), Italy
Letizia Moratti has held numerous positions in important Italian and foreign groups in the communications and media sector and was the first Italian woman to become president of RAI - Radio Televisione Italiana (1994-96). Minister of Education, University and Research from June 2001 to May 2006, in 2003 she launched a substantial reform of the school system. From 2006 to 2011 she was Mayor of Milan.

Agnieszka Siedlarska, STOMAlife fundacja, Poland
The initiator of its creation. While working as a financial director in the Polish branch of a global medical concern, she first encountered issues related to stomas. This experience prompted her to get involved in working for people with a stoma.

Pier Raffaele Spena, FAIS, Italy
Pier Raffaele Spena is the president of FAIS, which is a non-profit voluntary organisation that groups the Regional Voluntary Associations in favour of incontinent and ostomised people, established in 2002 in Rimini, Italy. Its legal and operational headquarters is located at the National Cancer Institute in Milan.

Mariano Votta, Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network, Italy
Mariano Votta holds a Master in European Public Relations and a Master in Corporate Social Responsibility. In July 2013 he was nominated Responsible of EU Affairs at Cittadinanzattiva and Director of Active Citizenship Network, the European interface of the Italian civic organization Cittadinanzattiva, responsible for the international relations with public and private stakeholders.

Lieve Wierinck, Digestive Cancers Europe (DiCE)
Along with being a pharmacist and a former cancer patient, Lieve’s career in politics means she applies her medical, patient and policy expertise to her work as Chair of the DiCE Board. Lieve Wierinck was a Member of the European Parliament (ALDE – Liberal Democrats) until 2019.

Mariam Zaidi, journalist
Mariam Zaidi is an international news and EU politics specialist working as a presenter for TRT World, CNBC and Euronews. For TRT World she presents the news from both London and at their HQ in Istanbul where she steers hours of breaking news on the world’s biggest stories.

Klaus Zobel, Stoma, Continence and Wound Specialist Association (FgSKW), Germany
Klaus Zobel is an experienced nurse and nursing expert with extensive further education and professional practice. He specializes in wound management and is certified as a Wound Specialist Therapist ICW® and Nursing Expert SKW. In 2019 he won the German Wound Award of the ICW® and, in 2020 the Award of the Nursing Prize of the FgSKW.

Mattia Zucca, MCO international group
Mattia Zucca is the Head of Healthcare Strategy, Market Access & Communication for MCO International, a healthcare provider and boutique consulting agency primarily operating in EMEA and the US. He oversees several projects to communicate medical science and promote access to healthcare technologies, working with pharmaceutical and medical device companies, awareness groups and institutions.

Ida Züricho, Coloplast
Ida Züricho joined Coloplast in 2019 and currently works in the Global Public Affairs and Patient Advocacy department at the headquarters in Denmark. She is responsible for driving the company’s patient advocacy initiatives on a global scale. In addition to her experience in the medical device industry, she brings expertise from her work in public affairs within the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in areas such as cancer, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases.

Share your civic activism experiences in support of the vaccination policy
Active Citizenship Network invites all Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Patient Advocacy Groups (PAGs) to contribute by sharing their civic activism experiences in support of vaccination policy. As part of the #VaccinAction2025 initiative, we are collecting examples of how organizations have kept vaccination awareness high throughout the life-course, through evidence-based campaigns, projects and activities aimed at empowering citizens and improving health literacy on prevention. Your inputs will help create a comprehensive handbook - which will enhance all your logos - and present different national experiences, offering insights, good practices and innovative strategies to improve vaccination policies. We look forward to your valuable contributions! Please complete the online form by 25 April 2025. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. To know more about our long-term commitment to vaccination policies, please click here.

Irish advocate renews call for EU harmonisation of patients’ rights
As EU health ministers met informally in Warsaw on 25 March, civil society organisations renewed their call for the formal adoption of the European Charter of Patients' Rights in EU legislation. Irish patient rights advocate Stephen McMahon, co-founder of the Irish Patients' Association and co-author of the European Charter of Patients' Rights, attended the strategic meeting of leaders of European patient organisations in Katowice, Poland, on 13 March last week. The event was convened under the Polish Presidency of the EU as part of civil society efforts to formally incorporate the European Charter of Patients' Rights into EU legislation. Read more

COLLABORATE 2025: Together we can make a difference on adult rare diseases
Thanks to ‘COLLABORATE’, this year the Active Citizenship Network will continue to be internationally committed to rare diseases in adults with the aim of strengthening the evidence base and supporting communities to activate change. In this regard, two policy papers have been published, also endorsed by ACN. These documents provide a foundation for elevating the challenges faced by people living with rare adult diseases to a political audience, and ACN is keen to leverage them at the European level for the development of initiatives aimed at driving policy change. Read more

Empowering associations and building consumer trust in Bio-Based Products
How can stronger certifications boost consumer confidence in bio-based products? In a new interview, as part of the BioReCer EU-funded project, Apostolos Raftopoulos, President of the Union of Working Consumers of Greece (a member of the European Consumer Union), shares his views on the crucial role of consumer associations in educating the public, promoting responsible policies, and fighting greenwashing. Read the article as part of the communication activities carried out by Cittadinanzattiva/Active Citizenship Network with the support of Innovation News Network, ACN media partner.

BioReCer at work in Nice
On 12 and 13 March 2025, the consortium of the EU-funded BioReCer project gathered in Nice, France, for an in-person meeting hosted by project partner EGM. Partners shared key updates, presented the latest results and planned the next steps as the project moves into its final phase. In particular, during the meeting, Tiziana Toto, Head of consumer policy at Cittadinanzattiva APS presented two interesting communication campaigns aimed at improving public’s understanding of bio-based products and their role in a more sustainable future. One of these is an interactive quiz that will soon be shared here and on BioReCer’s official channels. Stay tuned to test your knowledge by joining the project’s Stakeholder Group!

RESILIAGE: Strengthening resilience through cultural heritage
In these first months of 2025, the RESILIAGE project has been meeting with the communities of its five CORE Labs (Trondheim, Naturtejo, Famenne-Ardenne, Karsiyaka and Crete) to carry out Sustainable Heritage and Preparedness Plan Improvement workshops at the local level.
The workshops aimed to strengthen the bond between citizens and their cultural heritage, emphasising its role in improving the community's resilience in facing disasters.
The project partners worked with local communities to bring out their experiences and their perception of local cultural heritage in the context of emergency and with a view to resilience. The workshop activities were divided into co-mapping activities, in which participants shared personal and collective memories related to cultural heritage and past disasters, with the aim of bringing out how much the collective memory plays a crucial role in uniting communities and strengthening resilience before, during and after disasters.
Read the full story on the RESILIAGE website and visit our webpage to find out more about the project.

8 April 2025 I Digital Solutions for a Bio-Based Future: empowering industry and consumers
Digital solutions are set to boost the European bioeconomy by providing critical information on feedstock tracking, sustainability and certification for bio-based products. To showcase these advances, a free webinar hosted by Horizon Europe projects 3-CO and BioReCer (of which Cittadinanzattiva is a partner) will introduce several innovative digital tools. Scheduled for 8 April 2025, from 13:00 to 14:00 CEST, the event offers an excellent opportunity to understand the future of digital technologies in the bioeconomy. Four tools developed by EU-funded projects will be presented and soon made available to users. These projects are: 3-CO, BioReCer, Bioradar, and the BiobasedCert Cluster (HARMONITOR, Sustcert4Biobased, Star4bbs). Read more on the webinar and to registrater for free, click here.  

28 April 2025 I Online EU Policy Lab on the challenges for vaccine promotion (15:00 – 17:00 CEST)
Organized within the framework of the European Immunization Week, this initiative - led by Maastricht University with the support of Cittadinanattiva-Active Citizenship Network, the Cyprus University of Technology and the European Centre for Studies and Initiatives (CESIE) – aims to bring together citizens' and patients' representatives, healthcare professionals, decision-makers and public health experts to promote meaningful discussions on the challenges for vaccine promotion across the EU. The aim is to translate the insights of the EU-funded co-OPERATOR project into concrete vaccination policies to address COVID-19 and flu vaccine hesitancy in the EU. Are you interested in participating? Contact Timo Clemens and Inge van der Putten from Maastricht University for more details. Read more

15 May 2025 I XIX European Patients’ Rights Day: “Exploring the benefits of health data sharing for patients, healthcare systems and medical research at EU level”
Have you ever wondered what happens to your health data—and how it could contribute to the common good? As digital technologies and AI transform healthcare, data sharing has the potential to drive better patient outcomes, support medical research, and strengthen healthcare systems. Yet, meaningful progress depends on informed public engagement and strong patient advocacy. This year’s European Patients’ Rights Day will bring together EU policymakers, patient organizations, researchers, and industry leaders to discuss the ethical, legal, and practical aspects of health data sharing—highlighting real-world examples and initiatives that put patients at the center. Don’t miss this high-level discussion on one of the most critical challenges—and opportunities—for the future of healthcare in Europe.  Learn more and register here. For questions, feel free to contact us.