Natalia Maeva, a patient advocate for pulmonary hypertension, attended the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Presidential Summit in Warsaw in June 2026, participating in sessions on early detection, air quality, tobacco control, climate change and lung health. Having had her own life transformed by access to specialised treatment and lung transplantation, she found the discussions on early detection particularly resonant, noting that earlier diagnosis can significantly alter the course of a patient’s life.
She highlighted the collaborative atmosphere of the Summit as its most valuable aspect — scientists, clinicians, policymakers and patients were engaged in genuine dialogue rather than parallel conversations, and she felt that her lived experience was treated as equally valuable alongside scientific expertise. The discussions on AI were also noted positively, with broad agreement that technology should support rather than replace the human dimension of healthcare.
Her key takeaways were that early detection can only deliver its full potential when healthcare systems are designed around people as well as technology, and that patient-professional partnership is no longer simply an ideal but an increasingly standard way of working. Natalia also welcomed the news that Sofia, Bulgaria, will host an upcoming Healthy Lungs for Life campaign event, seeing it as an opportunity to bring these messages closer to home.
Read more at this link on the European Lung Foundation (ELF) information hub
Natalia Maeva is a lung transplant recipient and Chair of the Bulgarian Society of Patients with Pulmonary Hypertension (BSPPH). She also serves on the European Lung Foundation (ELF) Council coordinating its working groups, and is part of European Lung Foundation’s United Patient Advisory Group (UPAG), which brings together patient advisory group representatives to share ideas, support one another and guide the European Lung Foundation strategy across lung conditions.
Photo credit: European Lung Foundation (ELF) information hub