From the Chairperson’s Desk...
The Chairperson writes...
Dear Friends
Those are busy times at IPOPI – we will very soon be participating in the LASID meeting in Cartagena, Colombia, in South America. Shortly after that we have the Global Leaders’ Meeting in London when we will be welcoming around 50 opinion and policy shapers from around the world to a new type of discussion about priorities in meeting the needs of people around the world with primary immunodeficiencies. Then , looking ahead, we are planning a meeting in Berlin in March 2010 with a view of forming new national patient organisations in the countries of Eastern Europe – we are inviting one doctor and one patient from countries where as yet there is no IPOPI member organisation and we will meet the costs of bringing them to Berlin and staying for one night. Slightly further ahead we are already involved in programme planning for the IPOPI meeting, alongside ESID and INGID, in Istanbul in October 2010.
You can now access the newly reviewed Strategic Plan on our website at www.ipopi.org. From that you will see the very exciting news that IPOPI will be establishing a new position – Director of Development – in the near future. This will be an exciting role which will include
- Development of IPOPI achievements to date
- Influencing healthcare for people with primary immunodeficiencies through the existing political structures globally
- Increasing the number of national member organisations
Applicants will be expected to demonstrate a knowledge of health issues, healthcare systems and issues surrounding payment for healthcare in different areas of the world with particular reference to rare disorders. In addition all serious applicants must be able to demonstrate a proven and sustained track record of achievements at a senior level in previous employments.
IPOPI will pay a salary commensurate with the experience and aptitude of the successful candidate. The post will be home-based and on a self-employed basis.
The position is answerable to an elected Board of Trustees through the organisation’s Executive Director. If any of our readers are interested in this important new position, an information pack and application form is available by contacting:
David Watters, Executive Director, IPOPI, Firside, Main Road, Downderry, PL11 3LE or david@ipopi.org
Please include your full postal address as the information pack includes pre-printed materials. So, as you can see – busy times!
I also want to say a VERY BIG thank you to those NMOs that have paid their Assessment for 2009 already. We do not seem to have had many applications for free membership – and do remember that you must either pay OR ask to be excused payment. Excusing of payment is entirely at the discretion of the IPOPI Board!
We are keen to see new applications to the NMO Support Programme – this is for things that help members in your country in some way. Full details are on the website in several languages.
TWINNING is another area where we want to encourage formal activity – contact David if you either want to twin with another NMO or if your NMO is offering a twinning partnership to another organisation. Again – details on the IPOPI website in our usual range of languages.
With my very best wishes!!
Jose Drabwell |
