On 15 June 2022 from 15:15 to 17:15 CEST, EKHA hosted its annual event, the European Kidney Forum, in the European Parliament in Brussels, in a hybrid format. This year’s theme was focused on: The Decade of the Kidney™: 10 years to bring innovative and green treatments to kidney patients in Europe. The event was followed by a networking reception from 17:30 to 19:00 CEST in the European Parliament to celebrate EKHA’s 15th anniversary.

This event was organised as part of the Decade of the Kidney’, an EKHA-led campaign which aims to put the spotlight on kidney disease at EU level within the next ten years. The discussions were focusing on identifying the challenges with current kidney disease treatments (dialysis and transplantation) from a patient, society and environmental perspective, and exploring ways to ramp up innovation. We have gather insights from European patients, policy makers, healthcare professionals and scientists but also looked at inspiring examples and success stories from the United-States with US policy makers and patients.

Speakers included:

  • MEP Hilde Vautmans, Chair of the MEP Group for Kidney Health
  • MEP Jutta Paulus, Member of the MEP Group for Kidney Health
  • MEP Ondrej Knotek, Member of the MEP Group for Kidney Health
  • Prof Raymond Vanholder, EKHA President
  • Emily Petrides, Vice-President of the European Kidney Patients’ Federation (EKPF)
  • Dr. Mark Harber, Consultant nephrologist, The Royal Free Hospital, London
  • Dr. Ilaria de Barbieri, President and Scientific Board Chair, European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association (EDTNA/ERCA)
  • Dr. Fokko Wieringa, Principal Scientist, Connected Health Solutions Department, IMEC, The Netherlands
  • Dr. Murray Sheldon, Associate Director for Technology and Innovations, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food & Drug Administration (FDA) – Online
  • Paul Conway, Chair of Policy and Global Affairs, and Past President of the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) – Online

You can access the full agenda here.

You can read the event report here.