Written by Andri Phoka, President of Agora and Trustee of ASIF
AGORA is an umbrella platform representing patient organisations of people with Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (RMDs) in Southern Europe. Each year our annual conference takes place in a different country hosted by one of our member associations. This year, the Association for Patients with Rheumatic Diseases Montenegro (NVO RAM) hosted the conference. The theme was Empowerment to manage our own health and our own care.
Throughout the two days, we had the honour of hosting expert speakers from our partner organisations around Europe and the USA. They shared knowledge on mental health, strategic planning, empowerment and raising awareness. Mr Raj Mahapatra, President of National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society (NASS) in the UK, spoke about how patient organisations can be successful and expanded on strategic planning. I presented a project together with ASIF on how other countries work and how we can raise awareness for patient associations.
Funding from our industry supporters enabled us to create a professional and high-level conference, which will impact the advocacy work of patient associations. The feedback from delegates was overwhelmingly positive.
The AGORA Annual Conference will be hosted by ARAM in Malta in 2024.
