From 4 to 7 February, the EAHAD 2020 Congress took place in The Hague, Netherlands. The theme of this year’s Congress was “A Golden Age of Treatment Choice” and, indeed, more than 2300 delegates experienced diverse sessions and presentations of the highest caliber. The 13th Annual Congress took place at the World Forum, under the direction of Congress President, Prof. Dr. Karin Fijn van Draat and was the place to be for innovative discussions on the latest developments in the haemophilia and bleeding disorders field.
We kicked off the meeting with our Pre-Congress Day on Tuesday 4 February. Physiotherapists, nurses and psychosocial professionals were present to share their expertise and show just how crucial the multidisciplinary approach in haemophilia care really is. Our opening session highlighted the importance of the joint effort between different health professionals by looking into the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary care of patients with rare bleeding disorders in the Netherlands.
From 5-7 February, the main scientific programme took place. We started with the Multi-Disciplinary Educational Session, which focused this year on the management of Woman-Specific Bleeding Issues. Six different perspectives were presented, as a nurse, a psychologist, a gynaecologist, a sexologist, a geneticist and a haematologist gave in depth presentations. This multitude of professions was necessary to paint the full picture of the issues that many women with bleeding disorders face.
Our first session changed things up, as modern philosopher Koert van Mensvoort explored why technology is our natural future. We then continued with diverse presentations ranging from the current and modern haemophilia therapeutic landscape, gene therapy, uncertainties for patients in the era of new treatments to VWF dilemmas. On Friday, attendees had the chance to experience the delegate-favourite and always exciting oral abstract SLAM presentations, as well as the Hot Topics session, covering cutting-edge developments in treatment that will definitely affect the future bleeding disorders landscape.
EAHAD 2020 was a great opportunity to honour the contributions made to our field. Awards were given to the top poster and oral abstract presentations and to the recipient of the 2020 EAHAD Research Grant, Dr Jose Rivera. The lifelong contributions of three cornerstones of our community were also celebrated through the EAHAD Recognition Awards for Outstanding Contribution to the Haemophilia and Allied Bleeding Disorders Field. This year, the awards were presented to Professor Wolfgang Schramm, Emeritus Professor of Haematology, from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Germany, Mr Brian O’Mahony, Chief Executive Officer, from the Irish Haemophilia Society, Ireland, and, posthumously, to Professor Jørgen Ingerslev, from Denmark, world leading specialist in the haemophilia and bleeding disorders field and a founding member of EAHAD.
The feedback received for the scientific content of the EAHAD 2020 Annual Congress was extremely positive and we would like to thank all of you who joined us. We look forward to seeing all of you and more for the 14th Annual Congress of EAHAD, to be held from 3 to 5 February 2021 in Manchester, UK, under the presidency of Prof Mike Makris.
You can download the Press Release as a PDF here