HOBOKEN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Octapharma USA has provided a grant to fund the first National Camp Exchange (NCE) for the bleeding disorders community, an adjunct program of the North American Camping Conference of Hemophilia Organizations (NACCHO). NCE will enable professionals who plan, organize and operate camps for the bleeding disorders community to share experiences, ideas and enhance camp programs nationally.
“We are honored to be the Exclusive Sponsor for the National Camp Exchange,” said Octapharma USA President Flemming Nielsen. “Octapharma is committed to helping people with bleeding disorders get the most out of life each and every day. It is challenging to manage a successful camp for this community and patients will be the beneficiaries as we bring together as many camp organizers as possible to share expertise and lessons learned.”
The Arizona Hemophilia Association (AHA) manages NACCHO, a national conference for camp organizers, which has attracted thousands of attendees from more than 40 countries over the last 14 years. NCE will allow camp professionals to attend different camps around the country for people with bleeding disorders in order to share lessons learned, suggest enhancements and develop leadership skills. AHA will partner with the Wingmen Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing value-added services to facilitate camp exchange internationally.
“NACCHO opened the door to reaching thousands more children and families in the bleeding disorder community by enabling new camp programs to begin and helping established programs grow and become better managed,” said AHA Chief Executive Officer Cindy Komar. “NCE is a natural extension of NACCHO and we are extremely thankful to Octapharma for helping us bring this vision to life. Together, we are providing camp professionals an experiential opportunity to learn from one another and share best practices that will significantly improve the summer camp experience.”
The National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) recognizes the benefit of the program.
“Bleeding disorders camps can only benefit from this exchange program,” said Dawn Rotellini, NHF Senior Vice President, Program Development. “Camps are constantly challenged to find volunteers with camp experience and training. They do not have the ability to train their camp volunteers year-round. Due to the lack of financial resources, many camps cannot pay for professionally trained staff, but recognize it’s vital to the success of camp and safety of campers, that their staff is seasoned and experienced. This National Camp Exchange program is one solution to solve a crucial problem for bleeding disorder camps.”
For more information on NCE, please call AHA at (888) 754-7017 or visit www.arizonahemophilia.org/national-camp-exchange-program/.
About the Octapharma Group
Headquartered in Lachen, Switzerland, Octapharma is one of the largest human protein products manufacturers in the world and has been committed to patient care and medical innovation since 1983. Its core business is the development and production of human proteins from human plasma and human cell lines. Octapharma employs approximately 7,100 people worldwide to support the treatment of patients in over 113 countries with products across the following therapeutic areas: Hematology (coagulation disorders), Immunotherapy (immune disorders) and Critical Care. The company’s American subsidiary, Octapharma USA, is located in Hoboken, N.J. Octapharma operates two state-of-the-art production sites licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), providing a high level of production flexibility. For more information, please visit www.octapharmausa.com.
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