In brief

  • Your region: Southeast Asia
  • Number of countries: 5
  • Number of MOs: 2

Tell us a little about yourself

I am Tony Castaldo, I live in Virginia, USA (right outside of Washington, DC), and I have been involved in HAE advocacy for over 20 years.

Tell us a little about your region

I share the Southeast Asia region with Henrik Balle Boysen. This region consists of five countries: Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Philippines. Currently, Thailand and Philippines have a member organization. We are determined to work with these five countries to continue raising awareness of HAE – and helping them advocate for access to novel therapies.

The global pandemic has, unfortunately, put a stop to travel activities. For all these countries in-person meetings are very important. We hope that we soon again will be able to visit this wonderful region.

What are you most proud of being able to do for the countries in your region?

We have very motivated patients and physicians in both Thailand and Philippines. It always makes me happy to interact with our friends in these countries. In Thailand we have worked intensively with the physicians to utilize the HAEi Global Access Program.

What changes have happened for people with HAE in your region whilst you have been looking after this region?

The number of diagnosed HAE patients in Thailand and Philippines have grown over the years. This growth will help our member organization in their advocacy efforts. Even though there still is a long way to go, the awareness of HAE has grown in both countries.

What Next Steps will you be taking to support your region?

We are currently planning the implementation of HAEi hosted websites in both member organization countries. In addition, we plan to initiate the HAEi Heatmap Survey in Thailand. Finally, we will also work with both member organizations to implementation HAEi Connect, our secure membership database platform for member organizations, and our HAE TrackR app.