Our CEO, Lynne Regent attends the International Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Alliance Meeting — Washington DC, 27th Sept — 29th Sept 2015

The Anaphylaxis Campaign is a founding member of the International Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Alliance (IFAAA) representing 20 countries.  The IFAAA is an alliance of patient education groups from around the world. The Alliance’s mission is to unite organisations working in food allergy and anaphylaxis in order to exchange information and advance key issues of importance to those with food allergy and anaphylaxis.

This pivotal meeting, involving 19 nations, will set international policy on food allergy research, education and treatment at a time when the incidence of food allergies are exploding.  Worldwide, at least 220 million people have food allergy, a life-threatening problem, and the numbers of these patients appear to be rapidly growing.

The Alliance meeting will focus on advancing food allergy awareness and encourage the commercial sector to fight the problem. Members of the Alliance have engaged patient advocates, physician experts, major food manufacturers and for the first time pharmaceutical scientists to act on critical problems for individuals with food allergies. These issues include the need for more food allergy research, improved food labelling, and accommodations when traveling and eating in restaurants, or in college and university life. Importantly, individuals with food allergies also need better access to life-saving drugs like adrenaline.

“The world is suffering a crisis in food allergy that threatens the lives of people across the globe. Patients lack access to effective treatments or even safe foods, and these problems are worsening under the burden of rapidly increasing patient numbers. FARE is imploring this global gathering to share their successes and challenges so that we can implement strategies to advance the interests of the hundreds of millions of food allergic individuals,” said James R. Baker, Jr., MD, CEO of FARE. “We must tackle key deficiencies in food allergy research, education, and advocacy to work toward meaningful policy changes and research advances on a global scale.”

The Alliance meeting, which will be held in Dulles, Va., is the only meeting of its kind and will be attended by leaders from patient advocacy organizations in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States. The founding members of the Alliance are FARE, Food Allergy Canada, Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia, Food Allergy New Zealand and Anaphylaxis Campaign (UK).