Welcome to EFCCA

The European Federation of Crohn's & Ulcerative Colitis Associations is an umbrella organisation representing 36 national patient associations. EFCCA works to improve the quality of life for people with IBD and give them a louder voice and higher visibility across Europe and beyond.

Its headquarter is based in Brussels and has three staff members that work alongside the Executive Board which consists of 6 elected representatives from its member associations.

Projects Highlights

EFCCA Academy

Start date: 06/2018

Status: Active

EFCCA Academy - Training Certified Patient Experts EFCCA is embarking on an exciting new project under the title "EFCCA Academy- Training Certified Patient Experts". The pilot phase will be launched...

Innovative medicines - Mapping project

Start date: 07/2016

Status: Concluded

Innovative medicines - EU mapping project The objective of this project is to reduce health inequalities in Europe through an exhaustive mapping of all innovative treatments and devices available in...

Living with IBD - animations

Start date: 04/2016

Status: Active

EFCCA is involved in an exciting project aimed at helping people to ‘live well’ with IBD. We are developing a series of animation videos that will equip people with practical advice and relevant...

Patient Safety: Biologics and Biosimilars

Start date: 10/2014

Status: Active

In the last two years the issue on biologics and biosimilars has received a lot of attention from the medical, regulatory and patient community. Licensing rights of biological medicines used in the...

True North Study

Status: Active Start date: 10/2018

Ulcerative Colitis? Time for a change!!! The pharmaceutical company Celgene is conducting a new clinical trial for people with ulcerative colitis. The True North Study is determining the safety and...

World IBD Day - Italy

EFCCA member, AMICI, has launched a video to promote #worldibdday2018 in Italy. The video is available on the AMICI website (https://www.amiciitalia.eu/) and will also be shown at mobile charging...

Independent Grants for Learning & Change

The pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, has launched a call for proposal within the framework of the "Independent Grants for Learning & Change". The call is for proposals on "Appropriate...

European Medicines Agency - Newsletter

You can find key information for patients, consumers and healthcare professionals in the newsletter that is published monthly by the European Medicines Agency by clicking here. Previous editions can...

Pouch surgery

"Considering whether to have ileal pouch surgery" is a booklet for ulcerative colitis patients which was recently made in a joint effort between Dr Andrew McCombie, Crohn ́s and Colitis New Zealand (...

Camp Purple Live 2018

By : New Zealand - ASSOCIATED MEMBERS - The Crohn’s and Colitis New Zealand Charitable Trust (New Zealand)

Watch the video from the Camp Purple Live 2018 ! Our colleagues in New Zealnad, Crohn's and Colitis NZ have just completed their summer camp for 60 children and teens. Camp Purple Live provides an...

European Commission publication on Biosimilars

The European Commission has published translations of comprehensive information for patients on biosimilar medicines. It contains questions and answers on biosimilar medicines and is now available in...

Pharmacovigilance in the EU

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. The book presents the results of an in-depth comparative study assessing the implementation of the EU Pharmacovigilance Directive in six EU...

Report from Nutrition Conference

The report from the ¨Optimal nutritional care for all¨conference is now available for download. The conference was organised by the European Nutrition for Health Alliance’s (ENHA) Optimal nutritional...

"IBD and Me" Teenage Transition Website

By : New Zealand - ASSOCIATED MEMBERS - The Crohn’s and Colitis New Zealand Charitable Trust (New Zealand)

‘IBD and Me’ Teenage Transition Website The transition from paediatric to adult care for young people living with IBD is ideally a staged process where young adults are gradually integrated into...

Interview with Gediminas Smaily

Interview with Gediminas Smaily from the Lithuanian IBD patient association during the EFCCA General Assembly.

Interview with Magdalena Sajak, new EFCCA Board Member

Interview with the newly elected EFCCA Board member, Magdalena Sajak, Jelita, Poland.

The IBD Journey

The video ¨The IBD Journey¨ highlights the need for multi-disciplinary care in treating IBD, from a range of healthcare providers and carers, including doctors, nurses, psychologists and...

EFCCA Magazine Issue 2/2017

We proudly present the second issue of the EFCCA Magazine 2017. In this edition you will find a wide range of information about World IBD Day, EFCCA activities, the EFCCA Youth Group, member news and...

Medical devices: more safety, more traceability

Stricter rules to ensure that medical devices such as breast or hip implants are traceable and comply with EU patient safety requirements were backed by MEPs on Wednesday. MEPs also approved laws to...

MEPs propose ways to make medicines more affordable

New medicine prices in the EU have risen over the past few decades, to the point of being unaffordable for many EU citizens and threatening the sustainability of national health care systems. To...

Patient Advocacy and Safety Conference

On 15th November 2016, more than 70 patient advocates and physicians from across the European Union attended the Patient Advocacy and Safety conference at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium...

What you need to know about biosimilar medicines

The European Commission DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, have published 6 new language versions of the patient information document "What you need to know about...

Life after IBD diagnosis

For many people, diagnosis with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be an overwhelming and confusing time. Not just for the person with the condition, but also for those who are close to them. Being...

Artificial Nutrition

PACIFHAN assists people travelling with Home Artificial Nutrition “To travel is to live” Hans Christian Andersen Imagine having a complex medical condition and treatment that enables you to live but...

Symposium on Innovations in Gastroenterology

We are pleased to announce a new initiative, "Innovations in Gastroenterology, 2017 Symposium” to be held in Tel Aviv, January 4-6, 2017. This will be an exclusive event where gastroenterologists,...

Patient Safety Conference - European Parliament

Patient representatives participate in open debate on patient safety issues and right to information at the European Parliament Brussels, 15 November 2016. The European Federation of Crohn's &...

Transition care in IBD

EFCCA CEO, Luisa Avedano, participated at the press conference on Paediatric Digestive Health during the UEG Week in Vienna on 17 October 2016. She presented the Transition to Adult Care project...

"From Health System Sustainability To Promoting Inclusive Growth" - Conference Report

The Lithuanian Health Forum Conference held in Vilnius was organised to consolidate and address the policies, goals, and objectives of the Vilnius Declaration’s “Sustainable Health Systems for...

EFCCA Magazine 3/2016

The third issue of the EFCCA Magazine 2016 is now available online. We hope you enjoy reading about our latest activities, news from our members and other interesting articles related to IBD such as...

Executive Summary - Patient Advocacy Workshop

This is the Executive Summary of the Patient Advocacy Workshop on Patient Safety which took place in Barcelona from 4-6 February 2016 and gathered over 60 patient representatives from a wide range of...

IPODD ... EU research project on IBD

The EU project IPODD takes a pragmatic approach to IBDs by focusing on the final stages of gut damage. Sergio Pistoi, IPODD Public Information Officer* If criminals were behind inflammatory bowel...

Survey on IBD patients' perception of Surgery

An international online survey promoted by the European Federation Of Crohn’s And Ulcerative Colitis Associations (EFCCA) with the Scientific Support of and international team of experts led by...

Commisioner Borg Video

Commissioner Borgh addressing EFCCA General Assembly Commissioner Borgh from the European Commission´s Directorate for Health and Consumers welcomed delegates to the 24 General Assembly of EFCCA...

EFCCA article published in Journal of Crohn´s and Colitis

Results of the EFCCA led IMPACT survey have been published in the latest issue of the Journal Crohn´s and Colitis. In the article entitled "IBD and health-related quality of life- Discovering the...

Tecniche diagnostiche per il morbo di Crohn

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

World Symposium on IBD Research

World Symposium on IBD Research funded by IBD patients associations Global alliance against IBD On 18 October 2012, the European Federation of Crohn's & Ulcerative Colitis Associations (EFCCA...