Athens, Greece – November 2025
The ERNA General Meeting 2025, hosted by the Hellenic Red Cross in Athens, gathered senior leadership, Presidents, Secretaries General, and Health and International Cooperation Directors from the following National Societies: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Monaco, North Macedonia, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, , together with Villa Maraini Foundation.
The meeting reaffirmed the shared commitment of the Red Cross and Red Crescent family to address HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, and substance use disorders through a humanitarian and community-based health response that leaves no one behind.
New ERNA Board Elected
During the General Assembly, the delegations elected the new ERNA Board for the next mandate, for the first time with women’s majority:
– Mauro Patti (Italian Red Cross / Villa Maraini Foundation) was confirmed as ERNA President for a second term.
– Dr. Antonios Avgerinos (Hellenic Red Cross) was elected Vice President and will be in charge of the ERNA Secretariat.
– Thaleia Fonazaki (Hellenic Red Cross) was appointed as the new Head of the ERNA Secretariat.
– Anna Martirosyan (Armenian Red Cross) was elected as Vice President.
– The Assembly also appointed Steli Dzhambazova (Bulgarian Red Cross), current President of the RCRC Youth Committee for Europe, as Youth Representative in ERNA.
The General Assembly also expressed deep gratitude and congratulations to the outgoing Board members, Vice Presidents Uldis Likops (Latvian Red Cross) and Marat Kachkynbekov (Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent), and to Atai Ibraev (Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent), former Head of the Secretariat, for their important contribution and dedication to the network over the past years.
Collective Commitments and National Pledges
Each ERNA focal point presented a soft pledge, outlining specific commitments to integrate ERNA’s mission and priorities within their National Society’s health and social policy frameworks. These commitments include short-term activities to promote ERNA topics such as stigma reduction, harm reduction, health equity, and humanitarian engagement in drug and infectious disease responses.
“Despite medical progress, HIV, hepatitis, and tuberculosis still cause avoidable suffering and exclusion,” said Mauro Patti, ERNA President.
“It is our humanitarian duty to unite efforts and ensure access to health, dignity, and rights for everyone.”
High-Level Panels and Workshops
The 2025 General Meeting featured expert panels and workshops, bringing together National Societies, institutions, and partners from across the region:
TB Panel: focused on community-based care, treatment adherence, stigma challenges and psychosocial support, highlighting innovative approaches for reaching the most vulnerable patients.
HIV/AIDS & Hepatitis Panel: showcased best practices, awareness campaigns, and testimonies from beneficiaries and NGOs, including Positive Voice, under the principle “Nothing About Us Without Us.”
Workshop on Health in Prison Settings: led by ICRC, ECDC, and the Irish Red Cross, presented the impactful program developed in Ireland that empowers inmates to become Red Cross volunteers, delivering peer education and conducting hepatitis B and C screening in prisons. This unique initiative has proven to significantly improve community health outcomes within the prison environment.
Panel on Humanitarian Drug Policy: focused on harm reduction strategies and community-based activities to address drug disorders among the most vulnerables featured contributions from the City of Athens public services, the Villa Maraini Foundation, the Luxembourg Red Cross, and the Rome Consensus 2.0 initiative, introducing also the emerging theme of palliative care and access to controlled medicines — from the first breath to the last — ensuring dignity and equitable access to opioid treatment for pain relief.
The Assembly highlighted the need to integrate HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and substance use issues into responses to emerging health priorities related to conflicts, displacement, mental health, and climate-related crises, which increasingly exacerbate vulnerabilities and limit access to care.
Looking Ahead
The outcomes of the Athens meeting mark a renewed momentum for ERNA’s mission and will serve as the foundation for the development of the new ERNA Strategic Roadmap 2026–2030, aimed at reinforcing cooperation, visibility, and humanitarian health impact across Europe and Central Asia.
ERNA and its members will continue to work together to protect life, reduce suffering, and restore dignity for the target groups of people affected by HIV/AIDS, TB, Hepatitis, and drug disorders, who are the most marginalized and neglected in our communities, guided by the principles of humanity, impartiality, and inclusion.
Pledges of National Societies – https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1s_4JchEOPkwabJsQ21DqH6_spf__5sMr?usp=sharing
