As we press toward the close of a truly remarkable year, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to each of you for making this year’s GAAPP Summit the most successful in our history. Your commitment, passion, and collaboration continue to strengthen our global community and amplify the voice of those living with allergic, atopic, and airways diseases. Together, we’ve proven once again that when patients, advocates, and partners unite, progress follows.
As we look ahead, let’s not forget to finish strong. I encourage every member to stay engaged through the GAAPP Knowledge Hub—our shared space for learning, connecting, and advancing patient advocacy. Be sure to take part in the remaining communications days, like World COPD Day, to help raise awareness and ensure our collective voice continues to reach every corner of the world.
A special note of appreciation goes to our GAAPP Corporate Council members who gathered this week to discuss 2026 plans. Your continued partnership fuels our mission—to drive awareness, advance evidence-based education, advocate on behalf of those affected, and support research that leads to better outcomes. Together, we are transforming lives and shaping the future of respiratory and immune health worldwide.
All my best,
Tonya Winders
President 2017-2027
GAAPP News & Opportunities
The Knowledge Hub is LIVE! Join us for a Walk Through
The GAAPP Knowledge Hub is now live! This platform was created just for our member organizations – a space to learn, grow, and share with fellow advocates around the world. Discover useful materials, training resources, and opportunities to exchange experiences and expertise.
The Knowledge Hub is designed to empower our members with practical tools, insights, and examples of successful advocacy, communication, and project work. It is not just a library, it is a living community of learning and collaboration where your input and experiences matter.
Visit the Hub, explore the content, and contribute your own knowledge to help strengthen the global patient voice. Join us for a Knowledge Hub Walk Through Webinar on Oct 29, 2025 10:30 AM ET/3:30 PM CET. Register here!
Patient Expert Training Programme (#PETP)
We’re thrilled to announce the graduation of five incredible patient advocates—two from the GAAPP team and three from our member organizations—from the @eupatients Patient Expert Training Programme (#PETP) 8th cohort in Madrid, Spain! Congratulations to the newly graduated EUPATI Fellows: Edmund Lau (Psoriasis Association of Singapore & @psoriasisifpa), Martín Petrocco (@aepso.argentina), Álvaro García Díaz (@sevillarespira_), Vildana Mujkic (AAA BiH and GAAPP) and Víctor Gascón (GAAPP)
The PETP is a rigorous training program covering the entire lifecycle of medicines research and development (R&D), from clinical trials to regulatory processes and Health Technology Assessment (HTA). It’s designed to build capacity among the patient community to take on an active and collaborative role with all stakeholders.
The dedication and expertise our team gained will be invaluable in advocating for the global patient voice in healthcare decision-making, ensuring that patient experiences truly drive the development and assessment of new treatments.
In our commitment to building global advocacy capacity, we are also proud to announce that GAAPP will provide 3 scholarships for the upcoming PETP Cohort 9 (2025-2026)! These scholarships will be awarded to three representatives from GAAPP member organizations in low to middle-income countries.
An Important First Meeting in Israel
The First Israeli Respiratory and Immunology Patient Advocacy Group Meeting was hosted at the Sanofi offices in Yakum, Israel on 20 October. Our Chief Scientific Officer, Ruth Tal-Singer, PhD, introduced attendees to GAAPP’s mission and activities with the aim of advancing reciprocal collaboration and local patient engagement. Member Organizations in attendance were Breathing Israel, HETZ (Alpha 1), and the PCD Association. Ruth also met with other local advocacy groups to introduce GAAPP.
Get Involved
Join the Speak Up for COPD Social Chat on World COPD Day!
GAAPP invites all member organizations to take part in our global Speak Up for COPD Social Chat on November 19, in recognition of World COPD Day. The event will take place across three regional time zones (Americas, Europe/Africa, and Asia/Oceania) and will focus on raising awareness, sharing experiences, and amplifying the patient voice through engaging online discussions.
This year’s Social Chat will highlight insights from the latest Ipsos survey on COPD awareness and policy action, with thought-provoking questions that encourage personal perspectives and community participation.
Why participate?
Connect with advocates and organizations around the world.
Share your organization’s advocacy messages and stories that inspire change.
Help strengthen global advocacy for respiratory health and patient-centered care.
You do not need to work specifically in COPD to join the conversation. Every voice and perspective helps raise awareness of lung health and supports stronger action for all people with airway diseases. For more information about the Social Chat, scan the QR code below.
GAAPP member organizations that participate in the event are eligible to receive a 200 Euro communication grant to support their engagement and outreach. An official application for the grant will be shared soon!
Save the date: November 19, 2025
Join the conversation and help the world #SpeakUpforCOPD.
Webinar for Patient Organizations: How to Implement Checkair by Lovexair
Would you like to empower your community with a digital tool for better respiratory health?
Discover Checkair, the online questionnaire that helps people —with or without a diagnosis— understand their respiratory health and receive a personalized report they can share with their doctor to build a tailored care plan together.
In this webinar, you’ll learn how your organization can integrate Checkair into your patient support programs and strengthen respiratory health education.
Don’t miss it!
The webinar will be conducted in Spanish, with AI-powered translation into other languages available.
Asthma Ghana
Stitching PIBO
