Request for Proposals (RFP) to Host Annual EAHAD Congress 2026
The European Association for Haemophilia and Allied Disorders (EAHAD) is a multidisciplinary association of healthcare professionals dedicated to providing care for individuals with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders. Since its establishment in 2007, EAHAD has been at the forefront of improving the lives of people living with these conditions.
The EAHAD Annual Congress provides an opportunity to increase the community’s knowledge and better understand the most recent scientific advances, while showcasing the latest findings and being a forum of interaction between physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, psychosocial professionals and all other caregivers involved in our field.
The congress has significantly grown since its establishment in 2007 to reach a peak of 2’500+ delegates in 2020. With two very successful virtual meetings in 2021 and 2022, our first in-person congress in 2023 has shown once more the pivotal role our congress holds in the field, with attendance numbers almost back to pre-Covid times.
The Annual Congress takes place over 4 days in early February. The pattern over the congress days is as follows:
- Monday: Setup.
- Tuesday: Setup finalisation and Allied Health Professionals Day (AHP Day) with three streams dedicated to nurses, physiotherapists, and psychosocial professionals respectively.
- Wednesday: Reserved for the Multidisciplinary Educational Session and the Industry Satellite Symposia.
- Thursday and Friday: Main congress sessions and presentations.
The peak nights for hotel accommodation are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
The EAHAD Annual Congress does not have an Exhibition Area.
EAHAD have appointed MCI as its core PCO (Professional Congress Organiser) until 2029. MCI has been working with EAHAD since 2011. MCI will be closely collaborating with the chosen congress destination, venue, appointed Congress President and EAHAD for the fulfilment of the congress. MCI will be working with local partners in the host destination.
The applicant:
- Must be a clinician working actively in the haemophilia and bleeding disorders field.
- Must be an EAHAD member under the Ordinary Category (more information here).
The applicants can collaborate with the destination’s city conference bureau, if they choose to do so, when submitting their application. The successful applicant is appointed to serve as Congress President.
The Congress Destination is selected based on:
- Where previous congresses have been held (effort to move to different parts of Europe and only repeat destinations/cities once per decade).
- Centralised location of the congress venue in relation to the hotels (walking distance or easy availability of public transportation).
- Ease of access (flight and rail connections).
- Political stability of the host destination country.
- General security level of the host destination country.
- Support by the destination (financial or in-kind).
- Local clinical community.
- Sustainability: EAHAD is committed to reducing the environmental impact of its congresses[1].
- Available information on local pharma regulations or restrictions imposed to industry participating and supporting the EAHAD Annual Congress.
Venue requirements:
- Three rooms for the AHP Day, one with 250 seats and two with 100 seats (for Tuesday).
- Plenary room with approx. 2500 seats (from Wednesday to Friday).
- Two breakout rooms for satellite symposia (approx. 500 seats each) (for Wednesday).
- Spacious area (approx. 3,000-4,500 m2) to accommodate for catering (coffee breaks and lunches are offered to delegates), poster viewing, and delegate networking (from Wednesday to Friday).
- State-of-the-Art AV and IT installations to accommodate for potential hybrid/online component implementation.
- Sufficient hotel rooms/beds in walking distance or with easy access via public transportation for delegate numbers.
- Transport links between airport/train station and venue.
Once a destination is selected, the venue is selected by the Congress President with the assistance of the core PCO.
[1] Based on this, please share the sustainability measures already taken at the venue and destination as well as any future projects. Please also provide any reports, if available, showing the positive impact of the implemented measures on the environment
Proposals/Letters of intent should be addressed to the EAHAD Executive Committee and sent by email to Angelos Athanasopoulos, Chief Operations Officer at Angelos.Athan@eahad.org with the Subject “Request to Host Annual EAHAD Congress 2026” by Friday 5 January 2024.
The letter of intent/proposal should include:
- A brief description of the local host.
- The vision and rationale behind organising an EAHAD Annual Congress.
- Information regarding the Congress Destination and venue criteria mentioned above (location, ease of access, local clinical community, destination support (financial or in-kind), venue requirements, hotel room capacities, local pharma regulations).
While there is no limit to the proposal’s number of pages, the EAHAD Executive Committee would appreciate succinctness. All applications will be reviewed from January to May 2024. Final decision rests with the EAHAD Executive Committee and will be taken by mid-May 2024. All applicants will be notified at that point.