On behalf of the European Respiratory Society, I would like to congratulate two prominent ERS officers, ERS Advocacy Council Chair Prof. Ildikó Horváth and Chair of the ERS Tuberculosis Group Prof. Raquel Duarte, on their respective appointments as Secretary of State for Health in Hungary and Portugal.
Both have taken up these prestigious government positions effective immediately. Sadly, for ERS, it means that these important political roles take precedence over the official positions they currently hold within our Society.
It is no small achievement to be appointed as the official representative for health within their countries’ ministries and these recent ministry-level appointments are truly a testament to the quality and calibre of those involved at ERS.
As we wish them both well in their new endeavours, we also sincerely thank them for the contributions they have made to ERS to date.
ERS has benefited greatly from Prof. Horváth’s vision, commitment and passion over many years through her work as the organisation’s Assessments Director, Head of the ERS Airway Diseases Assembly and more recently as its Advocacy Council Chair.
Prof. Duarte has provided her expertise in the area of tuberculosis as an expert involved in the ERS/WHO TB Consillium and as a member of the ERS Ad-Hoc Working Group on TB Advocacy before she began her current role as Chair of ERS Tuberculosis Group.
It will certainly not be easy to fill their shoes, but we will begin the necessary proceedings to appoint suitable candidates into their positions in due course. In the meantime, I will take the role of Interim Advocacy Council Chair with immediate effect.