Dear Friends and Colleagues

The next ESID/INGID/IPOPI joint biennial meeting will take place in Lisbon on 24-27 October 2018. Lisbon is very special to IPOPI, not only because of the fact that IPOPI has an office in Estoril very close to Lisbon, but it was also the birth of IPOPI's very successful first IPIC congress in 2013.

Since we all met in Barcelona in 2016, IPOPI has been working very hard and we are delighted to tell you that we now have 63 National Member Organisations from across the world.
This year, IPOPI is hosting its XVth Global PID Patients Meeting and we are really looking forward to welcoming a large number of National Member Organisations (NMOs) representatives and of delegates from countries where IPOPI is planning to soon help launch new NMOs, such as China and Ghana.  
For many it will be their first experience of how the IPOPI family gets together, interacts and supports each other and the first opportunity to learn from fellow NMOs. We always keep in mind that regardless of where you live in the world, primary immunodeficiency (PID) patients face many of the same problems, such as lack of diagnosis, not enough awareness of the disease, difficulties in securing a safe and effective treatment and a variety of other issues. The opportunity to share your experiences with other people involved in the PID community is unique and it happens only every two years!

The programme has been designed so that there are plenty of opportunities for you to get involved, including several workshops to strengthen your own national patient organisation, lectures from physicians and from the pharmaceutical industry.

As always, all PID stakeholders, doctors, nurses, regulators, industry and those who are interested in PID, are very welcome to attend our sessions. Please note that there are a few closed sessions reserved for IPOPI members only

Finally, the Board of Directors and staff of IPOPI are looking forward to welcoming all of you to this unique and exciting meeting, so make sure you arrange your travel and accommodation as soon as possible. You can be sure to meet old friends and definitely make many new ones this year in Lisbon!!

Warmest regards

Jose Drabwell

President, IPOPI Board of Directors

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