History of EAMDA

In 1970 there was an exploratory conference held in The Netherlands at which European muscular dystrophy associations met to discuss common grounds and interests.
The 1971 saw the inaugural meeting of the European Alliance of Muscular Dystrophy Associations held in England. At this meeting the nine founding members were:-  

Ligue Belge contre la Myopathie, Belgium
Muskelsvindfonden, Denmark
Association Francaise contre les Myopathies (AFM), France
Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Muskelkranke (DGM), Germany
Unione Italiana Lotta alla Distrofia Musculare (UILDM), Italy
Vereniging Spierziekten Nederland, Netherlands
Rorelsehindrade Barn och Ungdomar (RBU), Sweden
Muscular Dystrophy Group of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (MDG), UK
Savez Distroficara Jugoslavije, former Yugoslavia

The number of members in 32 years has raised from 9 in 1971 to 23 in 2003.  During this time we have seen 10 Presidents.  Hugo Walford from England started the Presidency of EAMDA followed by Ferd Jongtien from the Netherlands.  Then Walter Otto from Germany was followed by Bruno Mansson from Denmark, and Germany took the helm again with Reinhardt Rudel, Evald Krog from Denmark then led the way to the first female President, Gordana Rajkov from the former Yugoslavia.  Patricia Ann Melsom from Norway followed.   Piraye Serdaroglu from Turkey took over.  Boris Sustarsic just took this position at the 2003 AGM in Malta.  All Presidents have led EAMDA in their own remarkable way.

The Annual Conferences since the first meeting in the Netherlands in 1970 have been in England in 1971 followed by France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Yugoslavia, France, Sweden, Italy, United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, France, Yugoslavia, Italy, Norway, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Malta, Sweden, Denmark, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Austria, Turkey, Finland, Ireland, Cyprus, Slovenia, Malta and next year the AGM 2004 will be held in Malta again.

Milestones in EAMDA's history have been facilitating the emergence of organisations such as the EAMDA Youth Organisation (EYO) in 1989, the European Neuromuscular Centre (ENMC) also in 1989, the World Alliance of Muscular Dystrophy Associations (WAMDA) in 1990, and the European Consortium on Chronic Respiratory Insufficiency (ECCRI) in 1993.  1997 has seen the launching of the European Platform for Patients' Organisation.

EAMDA is also a member of the European Disability Forum (EDF).