In 2022 our World Campus reached a key milestone with members now in 40 different countries and the power of its network and resources came to light in impressive ways, including some of the following contributions:
- Early in the Russia-Ukraine war, Patient Advocate Natacha Bolaños helped to ensure the continued delivery of critical medicines to Ukraine.
- Patient Advocate Mao Mao and his team developed a system to detect and monitor any type of cancer using only blood samples. He published his result in the Journal of Precision Medicine and his method has been approved as a product, so it is out of the experimental stage, with preparations currently taking place for trials and implementation in low- and middle-income countries on a not-for-profit basis!
- Another important example is the pain management trial, using Lidocaine, led by Patient Advocate Rob Tenbrinck. This development is now approaching completion and, if successful, will allow access to safe, effective and affordable pain treatment in low- and middle-income countries.
- As a final example, I think we can all admire the major step forward for Patient Advocacy in Egypt, where Esraa L-Sayed and Anis Mansour have used the Inspire2Live label to create a significant Patient Advocacy presence, starting almost from zero, including a seat at the table of the National Cancer Institute, called the Presidential Campaign.
International aid, science, clinical practice, patients at the table…these are just a few of our accomplishments in 2022…and there were so many more!
In closing, I would like to mention something that we all see and feel in our monthly online meetings and, even more so, in our face-to-face meetings such as our Annual Congress 2022 in Amsterdam i.e. we are not a formal organisation with departments and managers, but rather a consort of close personal friends and colleagues. During the recent World Cup soccer tournament, we watched and enjoyed games between our countries and congratulated the other side if they won. We are a network built on diversity, peace, energy and respect. In other words, we are a civilisation.
Let’s build on our small civilisation in 2023 by continuing to work together for patients!
Tielo Jongmans
Patient Advocate Inspire2Live