The NIGHTINGALE project conducted a mass casualty incident drill in Novara from 18 to 20 October 2023. The exercise aimed to put innovative technologies developed by NIGHTINGALE partners to the test in controlled but realistic conditions of mass casualty incidents, including such situations as terrorist attacks, building collapse, and transportation incidents.
A diverse group of volunteers, civil protection agencies, such as emergency medical services, fire brigades, and police, as well as civic volunteers, including members of Cittadinanzattiva -ACN, participated in the exercise. They tested the NIGHTINGALE tools and provided valuable feedback on how these technologies can enhance prehospital triage during mass casualty incidents. The technologies that were tested included emergency mobile applications for citizens, mobile applications for digital patient monitoring and tracking, incident management and command and control solutions, a next generation Public Safety Answering Point, a thermographic scanning system, and drones.
The second General Assembly of FACILITATE, with ACN among the key partners, was held in December at the Université de Bordeaux, offering two impactful days of discussions and collaborative workshops. The event started with an engaging panel discussion on data typologies: what did Clinical Trial data mean for each stakeholder (patients, investigators, sponsors)? What could we actually do? What formats did we need? What should we create as new? These questions fostered an insightful discussion and paved the way for actionable steps in understanding and optimizing data within the clinical trial landscape. Then, participants delved into the FACILITATE Return of Data user journey. Actionable approaches were explored to enhance the data journey, building on initial interoperability and architecture design work. During the “Communication & Dissemination Plan 2024” session, the team strategized the Plan for 2024 to share the impact and progress of FACILITATE with a broader audience. As the General Assembly concluded, the commitment to communication, empowerment, and advancing clinical trials remained at the forefront. The focus extended beyond information to training, aiming to disclose clinical trials, explain the importance of data sharing to participants, and promote its role in advancing science. Stay tuned for more updates as FACILITATE continues its journey of knowledge-sharing and empowerment. Join our pool of stakeholders here.
The European research project NUDGE, funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 research programme, investigated how intelligent behavioural nudges can be used to encourage consumers to save energy. On the occasion of the final event, organized in Brussels on 6 November in cooperation with the Baden-Württemberg Delegation to the European Union, the consumer perspective was represented by Anastasia Chatzipavlou, Director of EEKE-Union of Working Consumers of Greece, member and representative of the European Consumers’ Union (ECU). EEKE is the Greek consumer organization partner of Cittadinanzattiva, the only consumer organization involved in the NUDGE consortium. Read more (in Greek)
Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network participated in the 1st meeting of the AMR Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform established by FAO, UNEP, WHO and WOAH. The platform is an inclusive entity, bringing together actors to help preserve antimicrobials as life-saving medicines and ensure their responsible use.
In this first in-person meeting, members of the AMR Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform gathered at FAO headquarters in Rome on 15-16 November 2023 for the inaugural Plenary Assembly. Open to all Platform members, this event laid the foundation for collective action on AMR. One session was dedicated to the presentation of Action Groups' proposals and exchange with members, such as the one on "Addressing the antibacterial pipeline and access crisis" also promoted by Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network, in continuity with our long term commitment on the topic.
14 November 2023 | 16:30 – 18:00
Room ASP 5G305 | European Parliament, Brussels
Programme
Moderator: Mariam Zaidi, journalist
16:30 - 16:45 Opening remarks
Brando Benifei, Member of the European Parliament – S&D group and co-Chair of the MEPs Interest Group “European Patients’ Rights & Cross-Border Healthcare”
Mariano Votta, Responsible EU Affairs - Cittadinanzattiva – Director of Active Citizenship Network
16:45 – 17:00 Recommendations on Covid-19 Patient Pathways
Kinga Wójtowicz, Senior Account Director – RPP Group
Igor Grzesiak, Vice President - Institute of Patient Rights and Health Education (Instytut Praw Pacjenta i Edukacji Zdrowotnej-IPPEZ), Poland
17:00 – 17:40 Roundtable discussion
Ilaria Passarani, Secretary General – Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU)
Martine Pergent, President - International Patient Organisation for Primary Immunodeficiencies (IPOPI)
Sarada Das, Secretary General - Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME)
17:40 – 17:50 #CareForAll communication campaign
Jake Harrison, Senior Account Manager - Stripe Communications
17:50 – 18:00 Final remarks
Manuel Arellano, Vice President - Patient Organizations Platform (Plataforma de Organizaciones De Pacientes) and Vice President - National Federation of Associations (Federación Nacional de Asociaciones - ALCER), Spain
Mariano Votta, Responsible EU Affairs - Cittadinanzattiva – Director of Active Citizenship Network
Media Partners:
With the unconditional support of:
To read more about the project, click here
To download the speakers' list, click here
To watch the photo gallery on the Active Citizenship Network’s LinkedIn page, click here
Watch the video interviews realized by the journalist Mariam Zaidi on the occasion of the presentation of the Policy recommendations on Covid-19 high-risk patient pathways in the EU
On 17 November 2023, Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network organized in Brussels a European training seminar - attended by people from 13 countries - on the topic of intimate health conditions (incontinence, stomia, etc.) addressed to representatives and leaders of Patients Advocacy Groups (PAGs) working at local, national and European level for the protection of patients' rights.
As part of the European project “Overcoming new challenges for advocacy of people with intimate health conditions in Europe”, promoted by ActiveCitizenshipNetwork and F.A.I.S.-Federation of Incontinent and Ostomised Associations - with the unconditional support of Coloplast - the initiative’s main objective was to build an informal network of patient associations trained to become educators in their communities, to improve the dissemination of messages aimed at protecting individual and public health, to fight stigma, make the invisible visible and reduce health inequalities across Europe.
17 November 2023 | 14:30 – 18:00
Martin’s hotel, Brussels
12:30 - 14:00 Welcome lunch
Moderator: Pier Raffaele Spena, National President – Federazione Associazioni Incontinenti e Stomizzati (FAIS)
14:30 – 14:35 Tour de table
14:35 – 14:40 Welcome speech
Mariano Votta, Head of EU Affairs – Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network
14:40 – 15:30 Overview on incontinence and ostomy at EU level: needs and rights.
Alejandra López Callejón, Stoma therapist - University Clinic Hospital, Valencia (Spain)
15:30 – 16:00 Living with an ostomy: the impact of education, the role of caregivers and the importance of research.
Giulia Villa, Assistant Professor in Nursing Science - Center for Nursing Research and Innovation, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan (Italy)
16:00 - 16:30 Coffee Break
16:30 - 17:50 Sharing advocacy experiences.
Inés Aulló Pérez, AEAPAF & FAPOE, Spain
Agnieszka Siedlarska, STOMAlife fundacja, Poland
Tomáš Skřička, Czech ILCO, Czech Republic
Pier Raffaele Spena, FAIS, Italy
17:50 – 18:00 Next steps & conclusion
Bianca Ferraiolo, Head of the Representative Office to the EU – Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network
19:30 – 21:30 Networking dinner
The initiative is realized by:
With the unconditional support of:
The third online focus group, in the framework of the “Civil Society promoting vaccination across the life-course” EU project, will be held in Italy on the 25 of October 2023, organized by Cittadinanzattiva thanks to its Tribunale per i Diritti del Malato & Coordinamento Nazionale delle Associazioni dei Malati Cronici. Independent experts will discuss the importance of life course vaccination in their country, including Covid-19 lessons learned, barriers to vaccine access, options of diverse vaccine choices, and the possible change of the annual vaccination schedule.
The second online focus group, in the framework of the “Civil Society promoting vaccination across the life-course” EU project, will be held in France the 27 of September 2023, organized by the Coalition for Life Course Immunisation (CLCI), official partner of Active Citizenship Network. Independent experts will discuss the importance of life course vaccination in their country, including Covid-19 lessons learned, barriers to vaccine access, options of diverse vaccine choices, and the possible change of the annual vaccination schedule.
Active Citizenship Network calls for endorsement of the "Recommendations on Covid-19 Patient Pathways", drafted together with experts and PAGs coordinated by RPP Group, and drafted in coherence with Active Citizenship Network engagement in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, and with new recent initiatives started at the EU level titled “Protecting the value of access to care during - and after - the COVID-19 pandemic across Europe: focus on antivirals” and “Improving health literacy for better public and patient involvement in COVID-19 pandemic mitigation”.
Informally, the Recommendations have been recently discussed in Brussels in May, here more details, with some EU umbrella organizations, while the official presentation at the EU level expected to take place in the EU Parliament by the end of 2023.