Dear all,
Apologies to be a bit incommunicado this week, but I have been attending this year’s EASL international congress. I will do a few updates based on my experiences over the next weeks, but my broad impressions are that the patient voice is getting louder within these meetings and the experiences you all share here are cutting through to the entire sector.
What encapsulated this (and my highlight of the meeting) was my talk on the lived experience of Hepatitis B. The room was packed out (~200 people) and they had to turn people away due to capacity. Nevertheless, there were dozens more outside watching on the screens outside the room, in the simulcast area, and on laptops in other lecture theatres. This to me spoke of the real interest in hearing what the affected community has to say.
I really enjoyed catching up with friends, allies, and colleagues in the space (@CFreeland, @mariondelphin, @jessica.howell, @jessicah, @Suwang88, @simone.strasser, @cscoffin, @rgish, @PLampertico, @Cosmin_Oprea, @philippa.matthews, @LenaAllweiss, @nina.le.bert, @mat, @BTestoni, and many others), as well as making new connections. I invite you and any other @ScienceExperts and @HealthExperts to give your thoughts and feedback to the affected community with what you learned and took away from the congress.
Cheers,
Thomas