Declaration Made By The Global Pituitary Patient Community

Patient Declaration

PREAMBLE

  • Patient groups from across the world that support patients with pituitary disorders are concerned about the diagnostic delays that create unnecessary burdens for patients and the differences that exist in the provision of treatment and care worldwide.
  • We believe that all patients should be treated equally regardless of their race, nationality, faith, age, sex or economic status.
  • This document is a consensus declaration from the pituitary patient groups that assembled in Zurich, Switzerland on 19-21st October 2012. It identifies a set of basic standards which we call on health care professionals, hospital administrators and health authorities to adopt and to build upon for the benefit of the patients they serve.

WAPO History

An annual Global Pituitary Advocacy Meeting in Zurich was organized for patient advocates from 2012 – 2014 by Novartis. Patient advocates from 25-30 countries joined and delegates discussed the most critical issues they were facing as national communities. The delegates met outstanding endocrinologists, nurses, and other professionals, and learned about the various diseases and most recent scientific findings in the area. The outcome of the very first meeting, was the ‘Declaration of Zurich’, prepared and signed by the delegates, including 10 aspects of patient life, which should be implemented in medical care!

In October 2014 at the 3rd Global Pituitary Advocacy Meeting, the delegates decided to create an independent, global organization named the ‘World Alliance of Pituitary Organizations’. The Steering Committee held it’s first meeting on October 19, 2014.

The first official meeting and event was the WAPO Summit, in April 2016. The event was fully organized by the Steering committee, and we found three sponsors for it. It became the first formal meeting for WAPO incorporation.

At the AGM, included in the Summit, the first Board of Directors was elected and, on May 30th 2016, the World Alliance of Pituitary Organizations was registered as an association in the Dutch Chamber of Commerce.

WAPO Zurich Declaration

The original version of the ‘Zurich Declaration’ was discussed and approved of in 2012. During the AGM of 2017 we have re-discussed the ‘Declaration’ to see if it was still up-to-date and the adjusted version has been translated in various languages.
From now on, the ‘Declaration of Zurich’ will be reviewed every 5 years from 2017 onwards.
The next review is scheduled for the AGM, on October 8 2023.

Please find below translations:

Zurich Declaration 2017 – Review of 2012 version

WAPO – Zurich Declaration – review 2017 – Spanish

WAPO – Zurich Declaration – review 2017 – French

WAPO – Zurich Declaration – review 2017 – Chinese

WAPO – Zurich Declaration – review 2017 – Arabic 

WAPO – Zurich Declaration 2017 – Italian

Today, WAPO is a well-established non-profit umbrella organization that represents many pituitary patient organizations.
When you are a patient organization or would like to start a support group, focussing on pituitary disorders, we would like to collaborate with you.
Please contact us and let’s discuss how we can collaborate in future.

  • a general facebook page as well as a page for WAPO members only, the Facebook Forum Group;
  • Social Media accounts, like Twitter and LinkedIn;
  • an International Travel Letter, in many languages, including supporting information to prepare travelling;
  • By laws;
    • the Declaration of Zurich, original version in 2012, and reviewed in 2017;
    • the WAPO Code of Conduct, to be signed by all representing patient advocates;
    • a blog, which since 2020 is replacing the quarterly newsletter;
    • organization of an annual WAPO Summit incl. AGM, since 2016.
  • During the Covid-19 pandemics, virtual eSummits were organized in 2020 and 2021;
    • organization of a webinar, which will find a follow-up in 2022, with a series of informative webinars;
  • organization of an online serie of meetings in the ‘Global Café’, to meet and share experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic incl. sessions in English, Spanish and Russian.
  • Mapping Project I (2018/2019) and Mapping Project II (2021) to engage our members and to understand what is important in different countries – like medicine availability;
  • Task Force, since September 2020, WAPO supports member organizations on request;
  • Medical Advisory Board, now with 6 health care professionals, in future more HCPs to be invited.
  • Webinar 2022 Series, 8 webinars during 2022 on important topics for the pituitary community, and create an informative library – in open access and in English + Spanish – on the WAPO website.