WELCOME NOTE

Dear Colleague,

The European Academy of Paediatrics (EAP) is the united voice of European Paediatrics and Child Health, representing 52 national paediatric societies across Europe and 14 European paediatric subspecialty societies, with close collaboration to a further 14 affiliated societies dedicated to Child Health. We act on behalf of and in the interest of our member societies which we also wish to support.

European Training Standards

Through the European Board of Paediatrics (EBP), the European Academy of Paediatrics takes responsibility for developing updated and new European Training Requirements (ETR) in Paediatrics and Paediatric Subspecialities, and for facilitating their adoption by the Union of European Medical Specialists (UEMS). These ETRs are binding standards in the European Union member states and guide the national training standards in many other European Countries.  

Annual European Board of Paediatrics Examination and Core Knowledge in Paediatrics Course

Our annual EAP EBP Exam in Core Paediatrics test knowledge and identifies gaps that can subsequently be closed, facilitates job applications, and can it contribute to Board certification in some countries. It is complemented by the annual online Core Knowledge in Paediatrics Course.

Strategic Advisory Groups on Priority Topics

Our strategic advisory groups (SAGs) develop joint position papers on pertinent issues that reflect the joint position of European paediatrics, and that serve as the basis for our advocacy activities. Any individual member of our national and subspecialty member societies may be appointed as a contributing member of our SAGs. The SAGs usually work via online meetings, and at times 1-2 face meetings per year. Our current SAGs address the following topics:

• Adolescent Health
• Choosing Wisely
• Ethics
• Migrant children’s health
• Medicines for Children
• Rare Diseases
• Vaccination

Further topics should be added in the near future, any suggestions are welcome

the early part of 2024.

Examples of our advocacy activities

Improving vaccination rates in children and adolescents

EAP has participated in several EU funded collaborative projects aiming to improve vaccine uptake, including the EU funded projects “Innovative Immunisation Hubs”, the “Coalition for Vaccination of European Healthcare Professionals” and “Reducing inequalities in vaccine uptake in the European Region”. Our campaign “Vaccinate your child” was supported i.a. by the European Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides and received broad attention

Securing access of children to required medical devices

The revised EU legislation on Medical Devices EAP has not given sufficient attention to the needs of children and of other patients with rare diseases. The requirements and costs for re-registration of devices marketed for many years and of new devices are so high that manufacturers tend not to register devices sold in smaller volumes where the high costs of registration cannot be recovered. As a result, essential medical devices needed for the care of sick children (e.g. devices for interventional paediatric cardiology, dialysis equipment for young children) are becoming unavailable. EAP has participated in the EU Horizon 2022 funded project “Coordinating Research and Evidence for Medical Devices” and developed und published joint recommendations with 24 organisations on the topic (doi: 10.1111/apa.16919) that were widely disseminated. We also wrote an open letter demanding rapid changes with 27 associations and received a positive response letter by the President of the European Commission, Dr. Ursula von der Leyen. Constructive collaboration has evolved with the EU Medical Device task force aiming to develop solutions.  

Promoting Child and Adolescent Health jointly with the WHO Regional Office for Europe

In June 2023 we published a position paper criticizing that the 5-year strategy of the WHO Regional Office for Europe did not pay attention to the needs of children and adolescent. We were heard, and WHO Europe agreed to develop a “European Strategy for Child and Adolescent Health and Wellbeing”. We were given the opportunity to comment and contribute. The WHO Regional Director Dr. Hans Kluge, along with WHO Team Lead Dr. Martin Weber, met with EAP secretary Ann de Guchtenaere and EAP president Berthold Koletzko and agreed to establish close collaboration in selected key areas of child and adolescent health, to jointly advance our goals.

The Young European Academy of Paediatrics (YEAP)

The Young European Academy of Paediatrics is a particularly dynamic and active group within our association. If you are a young paediatrician, explore the great opportunities to participate in the European collaboration and exchange. 

Find out more

If you want to learn more about the numerous activities and opportunities the European Academy of Paediatrics offers, and if you consider contributing, have a look at our website, subscribe to our social media posts, join our events, or write to us at secretariat@eapaediatrics.eu.

Sincerely Yours,

Prof. Berthold Koletzko, Dr. med. Dr. med. habil. (MD PhD), Dr. h.c. mult., Prof. h.c.
Else Kröner Seniorprofessor of Paediatrics, LMU University of Munich

President, European Academy of Paediatrics