The European
Ostomy Association

We are the Association of European Ostomy Associations, created to improve the life of all Ostomates in Europe.

Find an organisation in your part of the world for help and support.

The European Ostomy Association (EOA) is a non-profit and a NGO (Non Governmental Organisation) for associations for ostomates all over Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

A total of 46 organizations belong to EOA and it is one of three regions organized in The International Ostomy Association (IOA).

The current president of EOA is Jon Thorkelsson from Iceland and the vice president is Maria Hass from Germany. The EOA contact office is situated at Deutsche ILCO in Bonn, Germany

An ostomate has had parts of her/his digestive system removed due to severe illness such as cancer or inflammatory bowel disease. Some will have had the urine bladder removed, mainly due to cancer. The ostomate will have to wear a plastic bag on his/her stomach for the collection of stool or urine. Most ostomates will have this situation as long as they live, but some may get reversal surgery giving them internal pouches either for urine or stool. An ostomate will have to change the bag regularly – some multiple times a day.

The aims and objectives of EOA are stated in the Constitution – and the goals to be achieved are set out in the Charter of Ostomates Rights. It is well known that ostomates in many countries within EOA have lots of problems. Some of the problems are related to discrimination, some to the fact that the appliances (the bag they have to wear) are not available in all countries.

One very important goal for EOA is to help organizations all over EOA to have the Charter implemented and accepted by the authorities. Just getting in contact with authorities can be a great problem in many countries, however, having EOA backing will often be a great advantage. But as EOA has members in many parts of the world – and with a great number of languages – it takes considerable resources to back every association in their effort to get authorities to accept the Charter.

On this website you will find brief information on the different member associations. All contact information you will find in the Directory, where you can find every member association’s homepage with information in their own language.

If you are an ostomate and not a member of any of the organization in any country, simply go to the Directory, choose your own country and find all the information about how to become a member. Or you may send an e-mail to the EOA contact office or to the President EOA.

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