World Patients Alliance

THE WORLD PATIENTS ALLIANCE (WPA) IS A NONPROFIT UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION OF PATIENTS, PATIENT ORGANIZATIONS AND STAKEHOLDERS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE. THE WPA PROVIDES THE PLATFORM TO EMPOWER AND RAISE THE PATIENTS' VOICE FOR THE PROVISION OF AND ACCESS TO SAFE, QUALITY AND AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE. WPA WORKS TO ENSURE PATIENTS HAVE AN ACTIVE ROLE TO PLAY IN ALL THE STAGES OF HEALTHCARE THAT INCLUDING PLANNING, PROVISION, MONITORING, RESEARCH AND EVALUATION OF HEALTH SERVICES. THERE ARE NO FEES FOR PATIENT ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS TO BECOME MEMBERS, AND OUR PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES ARE AT NO-COST TO OUR PATIENT ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION MEMBERS. MISSION: TO BE THE GLOBAL VOICE OF PATIENTS WORKING TOWARD PATIENT EMPOWERMENT AND ENGAGEMENT, IMPROVED ACCESS TO SAFE INNOVATIVE TREATMENT AND PATIENT CENTERED HEALTHCARE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD VISION: THAT ALL PATIENTS WILL HAVE ACCESS TO SAFE, HIGH QUALITY AND AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

GROWTH: THE WPA COMPRISES 394 NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS FROM 108 COUNTRIES AND WAS ESTABLISHED IN SEPTEMBER 2020. THE ORGANIZATION EXPERIENCED RAPID GROWTH IN ITS MEMBERSHIP GLOBALLY. BY HAVING PATIENT GROUPS IN VARIOUS REGIONS, THE ORGANIZATION HAS STRENGTHENED ITS PRESENCE IN THE INTERNATIONAL PATIENT GROUP ARENA AND ENHANCED ITS ADVOCACY EFFORTS. COMMUNICATION WITH BOTH THE WIDER PATIENT COMMUNITY AND MEMBER GROUPS IS CONDUCTED THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA AND EMAIL. THE INCREASED MEMBERSHIP HAS BOOSTED THE ORGANIZATION'S CREDIBILITY WITH POTENTIAL FUNDERS AND POLICY MAKERS WORLDWIDE, RESULTING IN INCREASED FUNDING AND ADVOCACY OPPORTUNITIES. IN 2022, WPA SUCCESSFULLY ORGANIZED A LARGE-SCALE CAMPAIGN ON WORLD PATIENT SAFETY DAY, WHICH INVOLVED APPROXIMATELY 400 EVENTS GLOBALLY. BURSARIES AND GRANTS WERE ALSO PROVIDED TO MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES TO ORGANIZE AWARENESS EVENTS LOCALLY. WPA ALSO ORGANIZED ITS 1ST WORLD PATIENTS CONFERENCE AND PROVIDED GRANTS TO A NUMBER OF PATIENT ADVOCATES FROM DIFFERENT WORLD REGIONS TO ENSURE REPRESENTATION IN THE CONFERENCE FROM ALL AREAS. TO ADDRESS THE SPECIFIC ISSUES FACED BY THE AFRICAN REGION, WPA CONDUCTED AN AFRICAN REGIONAL MEETING.

ADVOCACY: THE WPA PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE GLOBAL POLICY ARENA, REPRESENTING PATIENTS WORLDWIDE. THE ORGANIZATION DEDICATES CONSIDERABLE TIME TO CONVEY THE PATIENT PERSPECTIVE TO REGULATORS, POLICYMAKERS, AND OTHER RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS, INCLUDING THE WHO, EU, AND OTHER GOVERNING BODIES. TO ENSURE THE PATIENT VOICE IS HEARD, THE WPA ACTIVELY PARTICIPATES AND PRESENTS AT VARIOUS MEETINGS WORLDWIDE. HERE IS A LIST OF A FEW EVENTS WHERE WPA BOARD DIRECTORS WERE PRESENT, EITHER VIRTUALLY OR IN PERSON: -WORLD HEALTH DAY CONFERENCE -COALITION OF NGOS FOR EQUITY MEETING -CONFERENCE ON PATIENT SAFETY FOR WORLD PATIENT SAFETY DAY -45TH WORLD HOSPITAL CONGRESS -SEMINAR ON WORLD PATIENT DAY SAFETY IN FATIMAH JINNAH MEDICAL UNIVERSITY -MEMBERSHIP SURVEYS -STATEMENT OF PATIENTS' RIGHTS WHENEVER POSSIBLE, THE WPA'S TRAVEL EXPENSES ARE COVERED BY OTHER COALITIONS, MINIMIZING THE ORGANIZATION'S FINANCIAL BURDEN IN RELATION TO THE EXTENSIVE WORK PERFORMED. IN 2022, THE WPA FOCUSED ON ADVOCACY THROUGH THE SUCCESSFUL WORLD PATIENT SAFETY DAY 2022 CAMPAIGN AND COLLABORATING WITH ITS MEMBERS. THE ORGANIZATION ALSO ORGANIZED AWARENESS WALKS AND OTHER EVENTS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MEMBERS TO ADDRESS IMPORTANT PATIENT ISSUES AND UTILIZED SOCIAL MEDIA, PRINT, AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA TO REACH OUT TO WPA MEMBERS AND THE PATIENT COMMUNITY WORLDWIDE. WPA ORGANIZED THE 1ST WORLD PATIENTS CONFERENCE IN ROME IN 2022, WHICH WAS ATTENDED BY THE LEADING GLOBAL HEALTHCARE STAKEHOLDERS SUCH AS WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, FEDERAL DRUG AUTHORITY, INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF NURSES, WORLD FEDERATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION, EUROPEAN MEDICINE AGENCY ETC. THE CONFERENCE PROVIDED A PLATFORM TO PATIENTS TO NETWORK AND ADVOCATE FOR PATIENTS' RIGHTS GLOBALLY UNDER THE THEME OF "NEW NORMAL, NEW CHALLENGES FOR PATIENTS." TO RAISE AWARENESS AMONG THE PATIENT COMMUNITY, THE WPA RELEASED A VIDEO ON MEDICATION SAFETY. ADDITIONALLY, WEBINARS AND WORKSHOPS WERE CONDUCTED ON SIGNIFICANT TOPICS IDENTIFIED IN THE 2021 MEMBERSHIP SURVEY. GIVEN BELOW IS THE LIST OF GLOBAL WEBINARS & WORKSHOP ORGANIZED BY THE WPA IN 2022: A. WPA FUNDRAISING WEBINAR B. BIOSIMILARS TRAINING PROGRAM C. WORKSHOP ON PATIENT EMPOWERMENT & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN PATIENT SAFETY D. WORKSHOP ON PERSON-CENTERED CARE

EDUCATION: THE KEY TO ADDRESSING THE PROBLEMS RELATED TO PATIENTS IS TO MEET THE NEEDS OF BOTH THE PATIENT COMMUNITY AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC. IN THIS REGARD, A MEMBERSHIP SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED IN 2022 TO ASSESS THE NEEDS OF PATIENT ORGANIZATIONS, ENABLING WPA TO ALIGN ITS WORK WITH THE OBJECTIVES OF THE GLOBAL PATIENT COMMUNITY. AS SUGGESTED IN THE MEMBERSHIP SURVEY, THE WPA ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN EDUCATIONAL AND CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ITS MEMBERS AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. NOTABLY, THE WPA COLLABORATED WITH ITS MEMBERS IN POLAND AND PAKISTAN TO ORGANIZE CONFERENCES. MOREOVER, WPA ORGANIZED THE 1ST WORLD PATIENTS CONFERENCE IN ROME IN 2022, WHERE PATIENTS WERE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXCHANGE INFORMATION, SHARE EXPERIENCES, LEARN FROM ONE ANOTHER AND GET EDUCATED ON CURRENT HEALTHCARE ISSUES AND THEIR SOLUTIONS. ADDITIONALLY, THE WPA CONDUCTED THE 1ST AFRICAN REGIONAL MEETING VIRTUALLY, FOCUSING ON RAISING PATIENT VOICES AS A PATHWAY TO ENSURING QUALITY AND SAFE CARE IN AFRICA, IN LINE WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF ACHIEVING UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE. FURTHERMORE, ONE OF THE WPA'S FOUNDING BOARD MEMBERS, JOLANTA BILINSKA, ORGANIZED A CONFERENCE IN LODZ, POLAND, TO COMMEMORATE WORLD PATIENT SAFETY DAY. IN ADDITION, WPA IN COLLABORATION WITH ITS MEMBER ORGANIZATION, ALZHEIMER'S PAKISTAN ORGANIZED A SEMINAR ON PATIENT SAFETY AT FATIMA JINNAH MEDICAL UNIVERSITY IN LAHORE, PAKISTAN. DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT WPA PROGRAMS CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.WORLDPATIENTSALLIANCE.ORG. ADDITIONALLY, THE WPA ACTIVELY PARTICIPATED IN CONFERENCES, OFTEN INVITED TO SPEAK, PRESENT, OR EDUCATE THE PATIENT ADVOCATE COMMUNITY. LASTLY, THE WPA CONDUCTED AN ACTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN TO RAISE AWARENESS AND EDUCATE THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY ABOUT DISEASES AND ISSUES FACED BY PATIENTS.