Marseille and Madrid Advance to the Final, Prague Unfortunately Eliminated

ČSH

Despite the great efforts of all those involved, we did not manage to get our capital among the top two cities in the bid for the World Hemophilia Congress in 2024. Yesterday's meeting of the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) Executive Committee decided that France and Spain will compete for first place. We will know the winner by the end of this year.

On behalf of the Czech Hemophilia Society, I would like to thank everyone who supported us in our candidacy and helped us. First, the representatives of the Prague convention company Prague Convention Bureau, namely Director Roman Matuška and Tereza Fialová. Thanks to them, we were able to carry out the necessary steps in the extensive candidacy process and meet all WFH requirements. Furthermore, the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, which provided patronage over the congress; the Prague Public Transit Company; Prof. Peter Tavel from the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology at Palacký University in Olomouc, which would have provided volunteers; and Assoc. Prof. Jan Blatný for his participation in negotiations with WFH representatives.

Last but not least, a big thank you goes to all of you who kept your fingers crossed and thought of us.

The Czech Republic and Prague itself would have deserved an event of this magnitude. There is no need to remind anyone that a World Hemophilia Congress would have been held in Central Europe for the very first time. I firmly believe that this experience, despite its negative outcome, does not close doors for us. Quite the contrary. We must draw from these experiences and fight for the candidacy again at the next opportunity.

We congratulate both successful candidates and wish them good luck in the final decision and much strength in their work.

On behalf of the Czech Hemophilia Society, Martin Bohůn