Now 122 patient organisations from 92 countries in the CML Advocates Network

We are proud to welcome a new member organisation to the CML Advocates Network: Patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in Kyrgyzstan.

The CML Advocates Network now totals at 122 member organisations in 92 countries worldwide!

Read more to see the list of CML groups in the Network on our world map.

The European Hematology Association (EHA) has already opened the Fellowship Application and Registration process by providing 60 free congress registrations for leaders of hematology patient organisations. This year, EHA has increased their fellowship and is offering an additional 10 fellowships, to provide patient advocates the opportunity to attend the 24th annual EHA congress which is taking place in Amsterdam from June 13-16, 2019.

If you are a representative of a CML patient organisation interested in attending this Congress, you have the possibility to apply for an EHA Fellowship and attend the 24th EHA Congress HERE.

Now 121 patient organisations from 91 countries in the CML Advocates Network

We are proud to welcome a new member organisation to the CML Advocates Network: Asociación Uruguaya de Leucemia ASUL,  based in Uruguay.

The CML Advocates Network now totals at 121 member organisations in 91 countries worldwide!

Read more to see the list of CML groups in the Network on our world map.

Chronic Myeloid Leukemia is a Rare Disease

What a Rare Disease is? 

According to the European Commission, any disease affecting fewer than 5 people in 10,000 in the EU is considered rare. Although this might appear small, it translates into approximately 246,000 people.

Most patients suffer from even rarer diseases affecting 1 person in 100,000 or more. Approximately 5,000-8,000 distinct rare diseases affect 6-8% of the EU population i.e. between 27 and 36 million people.

In the USA, a disease is defined as rare when it affects fewer than 200,000 Americans at any given time. 

The actual prevalence of rare diseases can vary between populations, making it difficult to provide a precise numerical definition

• 80% of rare diseases have identified genetic origins whilst others are the result of infections (bacterial or viral), allergies and environmental causes, or are degenerative and proliferative.
• 50% of rare diseases affect children.

Click here to check more information about Rare Diseases at Eurordis, Rare Diseases Europe.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a medical product alert today that falsified versions of ICLUSIG (Ponatinib) have been discovered in Turkey, Argentina and Switzerland, and in Internet sales. The falsified (counterfeit) medicines do not contain any of the CML drug ponatinib, but only low quantities of paracetamol. These falsified medicines are not going to have any effect against CML. The falsified English language packs contain the lot/batch numbers

• PR072875 (UK/Ireland pack, English language, 60 tablets á 45mg, Expiry date 12/2019) and
• 25A19E09 (UK/Ireland pack, English language, 30 tablets á 15mg, Expiry date 10/2020).

In addition, on 20 February 2019, we were notified of a new falsified Iclusig pack:

• PR0834170 (German pack, German language, 30 tablets á 45 mg, Expiry date 06/2020).

The WHO page which is available in English, French, Russian and Spanish provides photos of the packages and pill bottles so patients can find the batch numbers. The WHO page has not yet been updated on the third falsified pack, which is expected those days.

To identify falsified product batches both the batch number and packaging (language, country of the pack) are important.

No UK/Ireland ORIGINAL product has been produced by the manufacturers Incyte/Takeda that carries those batch numbers in languages from those countries and with these languages. Products with the above batch numbers, country and language are most likely falsified.

In case of PR072875, the counterfeiters used this genuine lot number originally issued on a German ICLUSIG box and created a falsified UK packaging. In case of 25A19E09 and PR0834170, no original products were manufactured wih those batch numbers.

And so far, the manufacturer and medicines authorities are NOT aware of additional FALSIFIED ponatinib products bearing different batch numbers, so patients taking Ponatinib with other batch numbers than those listed above should NOT yet be concerned.

WHO alert No. 2

WHO alert No .3 (22.02.2019)

Incyte Press Release

Patients, physicians and distributors should make sure to obtain CML medication from validated and reliable sources that are able to demonstrate the authenticity of origin of the products.

In case of any concern, check the batch number against the two identified falsifications, and contact Incyte Medical Information in case of persisting suspicion at eumedinfo@incyte.com or +800 00027423.

Please let the CML Advocates Network know via info@cmladvocates.net if you come across the falsified product with these batch numbers, so we know whether the falsified medicines have been shipped to any other regions or countries. National CML patient groups are also encouraged to notify their local health authorities and leading physicians.

Important Notice: Changes to the CML Horizons 2019 Conference                                                      

Dear Members & friends of CML Advocates Network,

This is a very important announcement and follows up from our notice a few weeks ago named "emerging news regarding CML Horizons 2019" following the tragic events that took place in Nairobi, Kenya.

After careful consideration, discussions and investigation the CML Steering committee has decided that at this point of time it is better for the safety of our members to change the location of CML Horizons 2019 and at such short notice we will need to come back to mainland Europe. Horizons will now be held in Lisbon, Portugal at the Lisbon Marriott Hotel, Avenida dos Combatentes 45, Lisbon 1600-042 Portugal and the dates still remain the same 17-19 May 2019.

This does not mean that in future years we will not take Horizons to another continent and we will work hard to try and make this happen for 2020 and we will keep you updated.

What does this change of location mean for all our members? We will need you to start registration ASAP and depending on the country you come from if you need a Schengen Visa this process can take 6-9 weeks so we need you to take the following steps.

Step 1: Register for CML Horizons 2019 here: https://www.cmladvocates.net/cmlhorizons

Step 2: At the following link is a list of the nationalities that must process a Visa: https://www.vistos.mne.pt/en/short-stay-visas-schengen/general-information/who-needs-a-visa#countries-2

Step 3: Once you have registered, we will be in contact with you in regards to support documents for your visa application.

For those members who have already registered: Vanja and Lidija will be in touch with you soon and there is NO NEED to re-register. For those who need a VISA we will need to send you new documents for a Schengen Visa to Portugal and new flight itinerary.

Finally, please note that this decision did not come easy and does not take away from why we had chosen Nairobi as our original destination and that is to honour our dearly departed Ferdinand Micho who was the leader in the fight of CML in Africa and the Middle East but also for the challenges that CML patients face in law and middle-income countries in access to treatment and monitoring.

We look forward to seeing you all soon and please should you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to contact us.

Warm Regards

Giora and Lidija on behalf of the CML Advocates Steering Committee
CML Advocates Network