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Board Europa Donna Germany has stepped back

Major breakthrough in the interest of women with breast cancer. German board stepped back because of discontent with financial dependence on pharmaceutical industry by mother organisation Europa Donna Europe

12.05.2008 |Chantal van den Bossche




WECF received a letter on the 6th of May stating that the board of Europa Donna, Germany,  had stepped back because of utter discontent with the policy of mother organisation Europa Donna. The letter is signed by Gudrun Kemper and Susanne Schroeder, who  underline in a personal message that they are ‘really pleased with WECF’s action in Berlin during the European Breast Cancer Conference in Berlin, last month.

Marie Kranendonk, president of WECF, sees this as a major breakthrough in the fight for the intrests of women with breastcancer. WECF as a women’s and environmental network has been worried about the lobbying of the pharmaceutical industry ever since the start.

The letter written to Annelore Windler, vice president of Europa Donna, explains their main motive to resign from the board; the financial dependence of mother organisation Europa Donna Europe, on the pharmaceutical industry. Europa Donna Germany has always tried to abstain from funding by the pharmaceutical industry. 

Gudrun Kemper and Susanne Schroeder state  that new figures presented by the European mother organisation indicating at 86 percent pharmafunding have really disappointed them and according to them even destroyed the credibility of Europa Donna in general. They say that Europa Donna, as an organisation which protects the rights of patients, should notbe involved in the organisation of industrial congresses, such as the EBCC6 in Berlin, which they see as a scam. 
They plead for a really strong association which defends the interests of women with breastcancer, and this can only be done with independent experts and representatives of patient organisations in a way that  they can work with the EUSIMA, and the European Commission. This is not possible with the European Europa Donna.

The European Parliamentary Group on Breast Cancer (EPGBC) has also stepped out of Europa Donna for the same reason, these last weeks. They plead for independent EU funding for a womens breastcancer organisation. Karin Jons issued a press release stating that the MEP's European parliamentary group on breast cancer (EPGBC) had stopped working with ED because of their pharma funding.

The letter from the German board was sent to the EPGBC, Netzwerk Frauengesundheit Berlin, AKF, National Network Women and Health, WECF, Bundesverband Verbraucherzentralen

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