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Collaborative Advocacy

Global ARCH / Collaborative Advocacy

Congenital Conditions Advocacy Collaboration

Global ARCH collaborates with global partners to build a collective voice that will help bring change for every person impacted by congenital heart disease and other congenital conditions. We partner together for key events and initiatives including the following:

77th World Health Assembly Side Event

During the 77th World Health Assembly, Global ARCH and several global partners cohosted a side event. Experts discussed the universal healthcare agenda that includes health investments, policies, and programs that provide access to prevention and care for persons born with congenital conditions. 

World Birth Defects Day 

Amy Verstappen, President

Amy Verstappen has been a patient advocate and health educator since 1996, when her own challenges living with a complex heart defect led her to the Adult Congenital Heart Association, where she served as president from 2001 to 2013. She has served as an advisor to the Centers for Disease Control the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; and the International Society for Adult Congenital Cardiac Disease, and worked with congenital heart patient and professional groups throughout the USA and the world.  Ms. Verstappen received a Masters in Education in 1990 and a Masters in Global Health in 2019.