Meeting Prague 1999

International Organisation of Youth with Rheumatism

Meeting in Prague

At the end of April 1999 the whole board of IOYR, together with national arthritis organisations, was invited to attend a European workshop for people with arthritis in Prague which was taking place in the middle of May. The pharmaceutical companies Searle/Pfizer sponsored the workshop. They asked the workshop to provide them with concepts and suggestions for a joint European initiative involving themselves in partnership with people with arthritis.
In the morning several speeches were made about the purpose of the meeting, about the organisations present in the meeting, about Challenging Arthritis (the Arthritis Care Self Management Programme) and about Patient Partners (a programme in which trained patients train doctors how to examine joints).

In the afternoon the group split into two. Group one had to examine how the organisations could be mobilised most effectively and what capacity needed to be developed. Group two looked at the issues of improving the exchange of information and the organisation of empowerment training

At the end of the meeting in a plenary session the attendants agreed that the suggestion for Searle/Pfizer should include the preparation of a European manifesto on arthritis in which all arthritis organisations agree on a set of common objectives. This manifesto could be used as a common agenda for joint action and action by the individual organisations and also to increase public, political and professional awareness of arthritis in Europe in particular.
Another suggestion was an action plan which included among others: Development and maintenance of a Website, a Europe wide empowerment training programme, development programme to enable patient groups to start in countries where they do not exist and an International Youth Congress.
To make a start a steering group was appointed to oversee the work of producing a draft manifesto and action plan. On 9^th June the steering group had its first meeting with some people from Searle/Pfizer. Now we are waiting for them to give the steering group the green light. So, to be continued.
Published in Newsletter no. 3, July/August 1999