Brussels, Belgium, 16 February 2021 – From 2 to 5 February 2021, the EAHAD 2021 Virtual Congress took place. More than 3100 delegates – a new EAHAD Congress record – joined online for a unique learning experience. Due to the Covid-19 global pandemic, our 14th Annual Congress became a fully virtual event under the direction of the Congress Organising Committee, Prof. Flora Peyvandi, Dr Robert Klamroth, and Prof. Michael Makris. Nevertheless, the move to the virtual realm did not hinder at all the quality of the diverse sessions and presentations.
The meeting started on Tuesday 2 with our Allied Health Professionals Day. Physiotherapists, nurses and psychosocial professionals presented dedicated to each field streams and shared their multidisciplinary haemophilia expertise. Some of the highlights were the second iteration of the Physiotherapists SLAM session chaired by Marie Katzerova, a unique “vlog” lecture by Luke Pembroke on his experience as a Gene Therapy patient (Nurses stream – Hot Topics), and a very timely session on the impact of Covid-19 on healthcare professionals and patients by Christina Burgess and Petra Buckova, two of our Psychosocial Professionals Working Group members.
From 3-5 February, the main scientific programme took place. On Wednesday 3, we started with the Multidisciplinary Haemophilia Educational Session, which focused on E-Health, a topic that has become more pertinent than ever before. The Wednesday programme included a multitude of presentations on novel therapies and Gene Therapy and closed with the first of three recap sessions, where Robert Klamroth summarised the content of the day and discussed with the session chairs about the impact of the issues tackled in the different presentations.
On Thursday 4, delegates had the opportunity to experience a great presentation on the diagnosis of bleeding disorders in women and girls, as well as the highly anticipated session on Covid-19 and Haemophilia. We finished with our session on paediatrics and platelet disorders and the second recap session, chaired by Flora Peyvandi. Friday hosted the – now an EAHAD Congress staple and delegate-favourite – oral abstract SLAM presentations, as well as the Latest Clinical Trial Results session, which covered cutting-edge developments that will definitely affect the future bleeding disorders landscape. The Congress ended with the final recap session, chaired by Michael Makris, where EAHAD President Flora Peyvandi made her closing remarks.
The overall feedback received for the EAHAD 2021 Virtual Congress and the innovative discussions that took place was extremely positive. We would like to thank everyone that joined and supported us in this inaugural online educational journey. Please remember that you can still access all scientific sessions and presentations for 6 months after the Congress dates.
We look forward to seeing all of you and more for the 15th Annual Congress of EAHAD, to be held from 2 to 4 February 2022.
About EAHAD:
The European Association for Haemophilia and Allied Disorders (EAHAD) is a multidisciplinary association of healthcare professionals who provide care for individuals with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders. Its members include haematologists, internists, paediatricians, nurses, physiotherapists, psychosocial professionals, laboratory scientists, and researchers from across Europe.
Since its establishment in 2007, EAHAD has worked to improve the situation of people living with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders. For more information, visit: www.eahad.org.
For more information, please contact: Angelos Athanasopoulos, EAHAD Communications and Events Manager, +32 485 86 1683, angelos.athan@eahad.org
You can download the Press Release as a PDF here