Dear readers,
Welcome to this first newsletter from Pain Alliance Europe in 2018.
2017 was a very productive year for PAE but also had some incomplete issues. We started with the SIP partners on the expert group on the EU Health Platform. At the end of the year, we were invited to organise a thematic network for the EU Health Platform on the societal impact of pain (SIP). We have succeeded and were voted the second out of the 9 candidates for 4 networks. We are now waiting for the Commission to make a decision on these networks.
We have started preparing our second EU-wide survey and thanks to the help of a lot of volunteers, it is now online. Read more about this in this newsletter.
We have begun the preparations for the activities of the Brain Mind and Pain Interest Group of the European Parliament. With three planned meetings so far, we are looking to cover items which are of importance for improving the quality of life of chronic pain patients.
We have launched the BMP patient-centred innovation grant and have received applications for this grant. We are in the process of the next step and will organise an event to announce the winner(s).
We are intensifying our relationship with the European Pain Federation (EFIC) and working together to improve the input of the pain patient in the development of new policies. Although this is a slow process, it is a major step forward. It is also a good starting point for improving the relationship between the national chapters and the national patients’ associations.
Pain Alliance Europe is also a partner, co-operating in SIP projects. During the last steering committee meeting of SIP, the decision was made to move forward to the countries to assist them in developing co-operation at a national level. At the same time, we will not forget to work on a European level for the overarching matters where a European-wide approach is necessary.
So you may read of projects to be completed and things we want to develop further. These are all in the interest of chronic pain patients and all will improve the situation of the national associations.
At PAE, we are working to help our members just as our members are helping PAE to become a stronger organisation at a European level.
Let’s make 2018 a year where we all win, patients, national associations and Pain Alliance Europe.
Joop van Griensven
President PAE
