ALAN reports back from virtual EHA 2020

July 13, 2020

From 11th to 21st June, the Acute Leukemia Advocates Network (ALAN) attended the 25th European Hematology Association (EHA) congress.

The annual EHA congress is a flagship meeting held in a major European city every June—a significant meeting place for hematologists from every area of specialization. It encompass the entire spectrum of hematological studies, where more 12 000 participants who share the same passion for this field, can learn about the latest findings and innovations. Due to the massive worldwide impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the 25th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) was held as a virtual edition.

The annual congress is usually well attended by patient advocates active in hematology from all over Europe and they have their own patient advocacy track and hub in the exhibition area. This year, since this did not happen, the advocates decided to make themselves visible on social media by using #PatientAdvocacyVirtual. And this was a big success since they have been counted as the top influencers of this 25th EHA congress.

On Friday 12th June, our Chair, Zack Pemberton-Whiteley (pictured below) updated ALAN members and sponsors with the 2020 plans and the Global Quality of Life survey final data.  The meeting was very well attended, based on a good exchange and we are very happy with what we have been able to accomplish so far and are looking forward to achieving more during the rest of the year. We are happy to share the presentation – just let us know by email at samantha@acuteleuk.org.

The ALAN Poster on “Identifying factors associated with variations in quality of life for patients with different acute leukemia types: a global survey” which shares the findings from 552 respondents from ALAN’s global patient survey was presented.

The poster abstract can be found here: https://acuteleuk.org/publications/

Poster presented during EHA

On July 10th, Zack presented during the EHA Scientific Working Group day “New insight from ALAN survey: Quality of Life in Acute Leukemia”. The session is released on the EHA platform and made available for on-demand viewing.

Zack talking about quality of life in acute leukemia during the EHA SWG on QoL and symptoms session

We also attended a lot of various meetings and sessions. A summary of what we took back will be shared soon in addition to what we posted on social media (https://twitter.com/AcuteLeuk). Check out the news and meanwhile, if you have questions or want to know more, please contact Samantha at samantha@acuteleuk.org.