News from ESHA

ESHA looks forward to a healthy future

ESHA is an umbrella group of thirteen patient support helpline’s throughout Europe that has been going strong for more than six years. The time has come to take stock of our achievements and look ahead.

With this in mind the ESHA members gathered recently in Copenhagen for the AGM where a number of important changes were approved to give the organization a firm footing for the future.

ESHA is a limited company registered in the United Kingdom and it has been decided that we will now apply for charitable status. This process is underway lending ESHA more credibility and structure. Another important decision for the future is ESHA’s partnership of collaboration with ESSM. The two organizations are separate and independent but will work in association with each other for the benefit of both parties and share a Web site on Sexual Medicine.

ESHA will work towards organising a session at the annual ESSM meetings entitled “The voice of the patient”.  Dr Lemaire, ESDA member from France will chair and organise this session at the next ESSM meeting to be held in Vienna in 2006.

ESDA is also looking forward to next year’s European Sexual Awareness Event to be held in February 2007. The Executive Committee of ESDA will be extended to include a special Committee for ESAE 2007 made up of the following people: Ms Hattat from Turkey, Mr Virtanen from Finland and Mr Berner (chairman) from Germany. Together they will be responsible for organising this very important yearly event.

On a sad note ESHA has said farewell to one of its best-known founding members, Ann Tailor. Ms Tailor has left her job as Director of the UK helpline to pursue her career elsewhere and has been replaced by Mr Alan Dear who will also be Treasurer of ESHA. All of us at ESHA would like to thank Ann for her professionalism and hard work all these years, she has been fundamental in making ESHA what it is today. We will miss her very much but we wish her great success in her new job and we give Alan a warm welcome to the ESHA family.