News from South America and Mexico

From Regional Patient Advocate Fernanda De Oliveira Martins

2025 highlights

As we look back at the defining moments of 2025, two significant regional achievements and a selection of individual country milestones stand out, marking a year of success and collaboration in the HAE community in South America and Mexico.

The Member Organization Grow & Impact Summit (MOGIS), held in São Paulo at the end of May, was a milestone for South America and Mexico. This event served as a hub for connection in a year with no other HAEi event, providing Member Organizations (MOs) with intensive training to bolster their local impact. Every participating country departed with a structured 12-month work plan. After the event, more MOs are now using and showing interest in HAEi tools such as HAEi Connect, HAEi Advocacy Academy, and the Emergency Room Poster. These tools help the MOs build capacity, raise awareness of the disease, and manage their data properly and securely.

Beyond the MOGIS, 2025 saw a significant shift toward better regional organization. We have seen increased use of HAEi FocalPoint, ensuring more streamlined communication and advocacy, as well as greater communication and collaboration between the MOs in the region.

For countries in my region, it is always a challenge to select a few highlights from the many. Here, I focus on the power of our advocacy efforts regarding medicines; in 2025, we were delighted to see the first use of berotralstat in Paraguay, and  HAE Argentina was able to reverse a negative advice from an independent consultant to the government about lanadelumab, with the support of a letter signed by HAEi.

Hopes and goals for 2026

In 2026, my primary goal is to continue supporting the implementation of the MOs’ work plans developed at MOGIS, with HAEi Connect and HAEi FocalPoint becoming the standard operational tools for every Member Organization. These tools can facilitate patient communication and support more effective collaboration with physicians and pharmaceutical companies. Our end goal is to accelerate advocacy efforts to secure consistent access to modern, life-changing treatments throughout South America and Mexico.