Hypoparathyroidism Patient Forum
This project is kindly supported by a restricted grant from Takeda.
The Hypoparathyroidism Patient Forum is a new pilot project from the ESE, which brings together clinical experts and patient group representatives from across Europe to understand and identify the needs of patients with hypoparathyroidism.
Hypoparathyroidism (commonly known as ‘hypopara’) is a rare endocrine condition. It is caused when the parathyroid glands in your neck are inactive or produce too little parathyroid hormone (PTH) – which in turn leads to low blood calcium levels or hypocalcaemia.
The direction of the Forum’s programme of work is led by a Working Group. The co-chairs of the Working Group are Prof. Andrea Giustina, ESE Past President and Natalie Grosset, President of Hypoparathyroidism France.
ESE is committed to ensuring that we are reflective of the needs of the communities that our members represent. As such, the objectives of the Forum are to:
- Partner with the patient community and provide them with a platform to voice issues they are facing
- Identify specific clinical and educational initiatives which will support a pan-European approach to the management, treatment and general care of people with hypoparathyroidism.
As part of the project activities, the 1st Hypoparathyroidism Patient Forum was organised on 26 March 2022. Over 175 participants attended this event, which offered talks by clinical experts and hypopara patients. The video recordings from the meeting are available here.
For the latest ESE patient information materials on hypoparathyroidism, we recommend to view the webpage of PARAT - An ESE Educational programme on Parathyroid Disorders, which includes a patient leaflet issued in February 2022.