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World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition Appoints First Executive Director
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PRESS RELEASE
BRUSSELS, 1 OCTOBER 2019
The World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition has appointed Alex Filicevas as the organisation’s first Executive Director. He takes up his position from October and will be primarily based in Brussels, Belgium.
Alex Filicevas comes from the largest cancer patient umbrella organisation in Europe, the European Cancer Patient Coalition, where he led advocacy and policy initiatives, capacity building and stakeholder partnerships. He speaks four languages and has lived in five countries, which brings international experience to a truly global patient organisation. Together with the Board and the President Ken Bagshaw, he will be leading the organisation to become a powerful global voice for people affected by bladder cancer.
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The core missions of the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition are to:
- Foster an international community of people affected by bladder cancer
- Advocate for access to the best possible bladder cancer information, support, and care
- Build alliances with health professionals, policy makers, academics, researchers, and industry
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“We are delighted that Alex has accepted our offer of the position as Executive Director. He brings passion for serving the interest of bladder cancer patients, drawing on the considerable experience he gained at ECPC in building strategic alliances in the health industry, in supporting member organisations to build their capacity and in establishing positive working relationships with stakeholders. His earlier work as a consultant to public and private clients in the areas of policy and advocacy development adds another key element to his professional experiences. His recruitment is a key milestone in the growth of our young and dynamic organisation, and I am confident that Alex will lead this organisation to ensure that bladder cancer is on the global health agenda.” said Ken Bagshaw, bladder cancer patient and President of the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition.
The need to raise a global voice for people affected by bladder cancer is critical. Approximately 430,000 people are newly diagnosed with invasive bladder cancer around the world each year. Globally, there are 2.7 million people who are currently living with bladder cancer. For the first time ever, people affected by bladder cancer now have a global voice.
“I am thrilled to join the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition at this important time for the organisation and I appreciate the trust the Board has placed in me as an Executive Director. Building on a strong base of founding members, together with the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition Board, I look forward to fostering a strong global community of people affected by bladder cancer, uniting the vision and goals of bladder cancer patient organisations to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients across the world” said Alex Filicevas, World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition Executive Director.
The World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition, incorporated in January 2019 as a non-profit organisation in Belgium, was officially launched on 18 March 2019 at the European Association of Urology congress in Barcelona, Spain. The World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition is governed by a board of directors drawn from its member organizations. This board is composed of people diagnosed with bladder cancer, carers of bladder cancer patients, and those engaged with bladder cancer organisations at a national level.
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The Members of the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition are: Action Bladder Cancer UK, Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (USA), Bladder Cancer Awareness Australia, Bladder Cancer Canada, Bladder Cancer Australia Charity Foundation, Fight Bladder Cancer (UK), Les Zuros (France), Norwegian Bladder Cancer Society, and PaLiNUro (Italy).
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3 October 2019. International Bladder Cancer Network Meeting. Aarhus, Denmark.
17 October 2019. Société Internationale d'Urologie (International Society of Urology) meeting. Athens, Greece
25 October 2019. BLADDR Global Congress on Bladder Cancer. Paris, France
4 December 2019. Society of Urologic Oncology congress. Washington DC, USA
20-21 February 2020. ESU-ESOU Masterclass on Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer. Prague, Czech Republic
20-24 March 2020. European Association of Urology Congress. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
21-23 March 2020. European Association of Urology Nurses Congress. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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The World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition benefits from the support of AstraZeneca, Bayer, F. Hoffman-La Roche AG, Janssen, IPSEN, Merck Sharp & Dohme, and Photocure. The work of the organisation is the sole responsibility of the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition.
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