BACKGROUND

A multi-stakeholder coalition consisting of representatives from the global patient advocacy and clinical community has formed the International COVID-19 Blood Cancer Coalition (ICBCC) to address the specific impact of the pandemic on immunocompromised blood cancer patients (both acute and chronic), like those living with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), and to recommend solutions and actions to mitigate those risks.

The CLL Advocates Network (CLLAN) is acting as secretariat on behalf of the coalition.

The coalition has prepared a Joint Patient Impact Statement for use in different countries to aid when advocating for the provision of anti-COVID-19 treatment and care for immunocompromised or immunosuppressed (IC/IS) blood cancer patients.

The Statement is now available for download!

The Statement has to date been endorsed by networks and national organisations of the global patient advocacy community as well as renowned medical societies and representatives from the global clinical community. Here is the overview of current endorsers (71 to date).

The statement is now available for you to use and share.

ICBCC SUCCESS STORIES & ACCESS NEWS

We wish to report on success stories that are reaching us from different countries following the launch of the Patient Impact Statement.

In this section we are listing examples of countries where changes have been observed that can – at least to some degree – be attributed to the coalition´s joint Statement. It´s great to see that the Statement is making impact!

We are also listing Access Updates related to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post Exposure Prophylaxis or (PEP), and antivirals. These are not directly related to the release of the coalition´s joint Statement.

CLICK HERE TO SEE EXAMPLES OF SUCCESS

Thanks for sharing your updates with us by sending an e-mail to info@clladvocates.net. We will make sure to add your story to the hopefully quickly growing list of inspiring success stories.

PROJECT PHASES

The project is split into two phases:

• PHASE I: development of the Joint Patient Impact Statement (completed) and a Lobbying Strategy (work in progress).
• PHASE II: development of a global campaign, toolkit and materials to help raise awareness of the vulnerability and needs of the CLL and wider blood cancer community around COVID-19 prevention and treatment.

NEXT STEPS

Toolbox development to help local / national implementation of the chosen priority actionable objectives agreed on by coalition members. These are:

JOIN US!

We are inviting representatives from the global blood cancer advocacy community and the clinical community to join the coalition. If you have not been approached by us yet but would like to be involved and be part of the discussion, please get in touch with Nicole at info@clladvocates.net.

Thanks for supporting this important initiative and sharing your time and expertise!