December 15, 2025

40 Years of Stichting voor Afweerstoornissen

Since their founding in 1985, SAS has been able to help hundreds of patients with a primary immune disorder by offering advice, support, information, and enjoyable family days that allowed everyone to take their minds off being a patient for a while.
In the Netherlands, more than 1 million people are affected by a rare disease, both children and adults. About 2,000–2,500 of them have an immune disorder. They are therefore a rare group among rare diseases.
Although not every rare disease is fatal, they are life-defining. Our illness limits us, while many things that are taken for granted by others are not self-evident to us. The Stichting voor Afweerstoornissen exists precisely to support patients and their family members. They do this by providing information, offering a listening ear, and organising the well-known SAS activities. These include the SAS Family Day, the SAS Ladies’ Day, and our members’ magazine De Paraplu

Congratulations

On 12 November, SAS celebrated its 40th anniversary. A milestone we as the board wanted to commemorate together with our members. They did this by sending all their members a surprise package containing ingredients for a cocktail/mocktail, a specially designed Immunowars card game, and our flyer listing all the special anniversary activities we will be organising over the next 12 months. Together with their members, they celebrated their anniversary in a studio. The nerves were running high when the countdown clock started…but when they saw festive images of their members online, those nerves disappeared. Some had hung up streamers, and others were wearing their specially designed SAS merchandise.

During the broadcast, Sian explained the activities planned for our anniversary year and walked us through the history of SAS. Lucy Gossens (Nurse Specialist, Radboud) told us about the history of immune disorders. Did you know that the first stem cell transplant (in the world) took place at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC)? Afterwards, Koen van Aerde (Paediatric Infectious Disease Specialist/Immunologist, Radboud) took us into the future of immune disorders. He emphasised how important it is for people to continue getting vaccinated. Vaccines protect not only those who are vaccinated but also children and patients (such as those with PID/SID) who cannot (yet) be vaccinated. At the drinks desk, Janine and Soraja prepared the cocktail and mocktail—some lime, some mint, a bit of muddling… Then we all raised a toast to 40 years of Stichting voor Afweerstoornissen.

Thank you!

Without the help of our Medical Advisory Board, members, sponsors, and many volunteers, SAS would not have reached 40 years. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone. Together we are SAS. Together with you, we are on our way to 50 years of Stichting voor Afweerstoornissen!