Dear Members,
It’s been a highly successful year so far for the International Alliance of Dermatology Patient Organizations (IADPO) as we’ve made great progress in our goal of building a dermatology patient movement through advocacy, research and support.
I’m pleased to report that our membership has more than doubled since last fall. We now have 75 members in 33 countries, representing over 25 disease areas.
Each month, IADPO becomes stronger and more influential because of our growing network of global patient leaders and partners. Together, we are making a difference by moving the GlobalSkin agenda forward. You can help us in continuing to build this movement by encouraging other patient organizations to become IADPO members.
This fall, IADPO followed through on one of the major commitments coming out of the formation of the organization in 2015 – hosting a biennial conference for patient leaders. The GlobalSkin 2017 Conference took place in September and brought together patient organizations from around the world at a two-and-a-half day conference held just outside of Geneva. The IADPO Board of Directors was very pleased with the number of delegates and partners who came together to make this event a huge success.
The Conference was held in the Geneva area to allow delegates to also get involved with the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV). IADPO was proud to co-organize and co-host an official scientific session where our organization, together with our lead researcher Dr. Matthias Augustin, presented on the Global Research on Impact of Dermatological Diseases (GRIDD) project. We were also pleased to bring together patient leaders and other dermatology community stakeholders at our annual Skin Matters Reception held this year in Geneva.
We look forward to continuing the exciting work of the GRIDD project which will see us collaborate with dermatology stakeholders around to world to ensure we collect impact of disease data on as many countries and diseases as possible.
Thank you to all of our members and partners for the part you all play in helping us achieve our mission to improve the lives of those affected by dermatological disorders throughout the world.
Jean-Marie Meurant
President