Allergy Today From Mark's Desk: Welcome to 2020

Welcome to Allergy Today. We invite you to share this free e-newsletter with anyone interested in allergies.
 

We hope you have all enjoyed a safe and relaxing break and that those of you with allergies managed to navigate a challenging time of year.

Pollen readings have been high, exacerbated by the smoke drift from the Australian bushfires and it is a time of the year when we share food more frequently. One of the motivations for raising greater public awareness of allergies is a better attitude towards those living with allergies – inclusive and understanding behaviours are great ways to show your support. 

This is a smaller Allergy Today issue than normal but we wanted to get some tips and resources to those who have children starting – or returning – to school at the end of this month. Please check out Penny’s column in this issue.

We also want to remind you of our exciting FundaPen™ initiative, through which a number of you will have children who are eligible for a free EpiPen®. The response has been hugely supportive and the good news is there are still EpiPens available to those who are eligible – See the FundaPen™ Update to see if your children qualify.

While we would love to be able to provide a free EpiPen® to everyone who needs one, our funding is limited, so we have made the decision to initially service those in most need. Should funding and supplies allow we may be able to widen this opportunity later in the year. In the meantime we continue to advocate for them to be funded by PHARMAC.

Please share this e-newsletter with anyone you know who is interested in the FundaPen™ opportunity.

Mark Dixon, CEO Allergy NZ