December 15, 2025
IPOPI analyses Primary and Secondary Immunodeficiencies in a PID Forum at the European Parliament
On December 9, 2025, the IPOPI PID Forum convened policymakers, clinicians, patient advocates, and experts at the European Parliament in Brussels for an in-depth exploration of the growing intersection between Primary Immunodeficiencies (PIDs) and Secondary Immunodeficiencies (SIDs).
The Forum, titled “When rare meets the not-so-rare: The case of PIDs and SIDs,” highlighted the increasing need for integrated European policies that ensure timely diagnosis, access to care, and adequate protection for all individuals living with immune-related conditions. The event was chaired by MEP Michalis Hadjipantela (EPP, Cyprus) and MEP Tomislav Sokol (EPP, Croatia). It was moderated by Leire Solis, IPOPI’s Health Policy and Advocacy Director.
The Forum opened with a video from a patient, Vicente Rodrigo, who had overcome two lymphomas to be then diagnosed with a PID, providing a very personal but powerful example of the path followed by many individuals. It was followed by Martine Pergent, IPOPI President, who set the scene by introducing key concepts and the context for addressing PIDs and SIDs together, their similarities, differences and common challenges.
A central part of the event was a panel featuring Prof Silvia Sanchez-Ramón (IPOPI Medical Advisory Panel Vice-Chair), from Hospital Clínico San Carlos (Spain); Andrew Symes, from the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (UK) and the International Nursing Group for Immunodeficiencies (INGID) and Martine Pergent (IPOPI President). The panellists discussed the links between primary and secondary immunodeficiencies, the need for a multidisciplinary approach, as well as for cross-fertilisation when approaching individualised care for patients with a primary or a secondary immunodeficiency. The participants had plenty of opportunities to interact with panellists and important aspects were touched upon: key aspects of genetic studies, of getting a diagnosis that helps establish an adequate treatment, but also care for the patient, the essential role of nurses in supporting the patient not just with the treatment, but with coping with the diagnosis and the subsequent care required. Savvas Savva, representing the Cypriot PID patient group, explained the importance of an accurate diagnosis and how it was challenging to obtain in certain Member States.
IPOPI would like to thank CSL Behring, Grifols and Takeda for their continued support.
The report from the meeting will soon be made available.
