The European Forum for Research and Education in Allergy and Airway diseases (EUFOREA) was founded as an international non-profit organisation under Belgian law in 2015. Since 2020, the new EUFOREA board with Professor Peter Hellings (Chairman, Belgium), Professor Ulrich Wahn (Germany) and Professor Leif Bjermer (Sweden) began to professionalize its approach to achieving its mission in close collaboration with the expanding management team and in alliance with partners striving for the same targets.
Allergies and airway diseases are among the most common chronic conditions in children and throughout the life cycle. These diseases present with numerous comorbidities and represent a major worldwide health problem irrespective of income. At EUFOREA, we aim to reduce the prevalence and burden of allergies and airway diseases via implementation of optimal carethrough education, research, and advocacy. EUFOREA brings together specialists from the entire healthcare system to create opportunities for new innovative thinking and the development of optimal care strategies.
Vision
EUFOREA is an international non-profit organisation forming an alliance of all stakeholders from national and international organisations, institutions, and agencies with the common target to implement optimal patient care for allergies and airway diseases (asthma, chronic rhinosinusitis, rhinitis) and comorbidities.
EUFOREA proposes to reduce the preventable and avoidable burden of morbidity and disability due to allergies and airway diseases by means of a multidisciplinary, practical approach with all stakeholders at national, regional, and global levels, so that populations reach the highest attainable standards of health and productivity at every age and that those diseases are no longer a barrier to well-being or socio-economic development.
EUFOREA is based in Europe, but its ambition is boundaryless. EUFOREA is seeking worldwide alliances to find solutions for implementing optimal patient care, including disease prevention.
Mission
Based on its medical scientific core competency EUFOREA offers a platform to introduce innovation and education in healthcare and to discuss progress in an effort to optimise patient care with all care providers, patients, pharmacists, general practitioners, and specialists of different focus including pulmonologists, paediatricians, allergologists and otorhinolaryngologists (Ear, Nose and Throat specialists). Information and communication of key results is targeted to the General Public Health Community.
EUFOREA promotes a holistic view of patient care including multispecialty integration of care leading to better patient outcomes and more value for resources spent by health care systems. A special focus is laid on primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention as key actions to reduce incidence and to avoid chronicity of diseases. Timely access to care is considered key to achieve the best outcomes and control healthcare spending. Value based health care principles are vital to the mission of EUFOREA.
The organisation of education on state-of-the-art patient care, including comprehensive care pathways, is a cornerstone of activities of EUFOREA. Additionally, EUFOREA has prioritised the need to raise patient awareness as a vital component in the prevention of allergies and airway diseases.
EUFOREA initiates and supports research projects to improve patient care. With its strong scientific background and a world-class network of experts, EUFOREA has ideal prerequisites to accelerate projects aimed at optimising patient care.
The evaluation of different treatment options is key to monitoring progress of optimal patient treatment. Given the novel scientific data on prediction and prevention of allergies and airway diseases, the cost of inaction is unacceptable and therefore there is an urgent need to undertake integrated actions in Europe by joining forces in a multidisciplinary way with all stakeholders.
Values
EUFOREA is a non-profit organisation transparently and exclusively dedicated to its vision and mission. As such, EUFOREA is committed to upholding its core values of respect, academic integrity, and acting in accordance with the highest ethical norms in all cooperation, both internally and externally. As a prerequisite of all EUFOREA action an academic independence is mandatory for all participating partners.
