Euro-Ataxia

Euro-Ataxia is an international non-profit organization formed by national ataxia groups throughout Europe. Its seat is in Belgium.

At this moment groups from eleven European countries take part in Euro-Ataxia: Belgium, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Euro-Ataxia publishes twice a year a newsletter, which is also called Euro-Ataxia. It is available in pdf on this website.

Until the 1980's - as far we know - only 3 national organizations for hereditary ataxias existed: the National Ataxia Foundation in the USA, the Association Canadienne de l'Ataxie de Friedreich and the British Friedreich's Ataxia Group, which by the way has changed its name by now. From 1982 on ataxia groups were set up in many more countries, in Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and other countries.
The 1980's also witnessed a very fast growth of genetic research. All kind of research groups were hunting for the genes that caused hereditary diseases, including the hereditary ataxias.
Because genetic research is very expensive and the ataxias are rare disorders, it calls for international cooperation. The researchers and research teams have always shown a exemplary behaviour in this. A major side effect of this 'internationalization' was that the relations between different national ataxia groups, which until then were predominantly based on personal contacts between individual members, became stronger. On the initiative of amongst others Dr. Susan Chamberlain from the UK, representatives of several European groups joined forces and founded in 1989 Euro-Ataxia, the European Federation of Hereditary Ataxias.