The Board of Directors

Laurent Vigier, former Senior Advisor to the President of the French Republic on multilateral/G8 matters, has been President of the Friends Europe since April 2003, when he succeeded Michèle Barzach, a former Minister of Health in France, who chaired the association since its inception in April 2005. The Board gathers European political and parliamentary figures, as well as of personalities of the research / academic and civil society world, and from non-governmental organisations and the private sector, all committed to the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

President

Laurent VIGIER, appointed President of Friends Europe in April 2013, is a former Senior Advisor to the President of the French Republic on multilateral/G8 matters. He succeeded Michèle Barzach, former Minister of Health in France and founding member of the association.

Vice-president in charge of European Institutions, of Belgium and Luxembourg

Charles GOERENS, former Minister of Cooperation in Luxembourg, Member of the European Parliament.

Vice-president in charge of Italy

Stefano VELLA, Professor of Immunology, Director of the Superior Institute of Health in Roma.

Vice-president in charge of Germany

Heidemarie WIECZOREK-ZEUL, former Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development in Germany.

Treasurer

Louis-Charles VIOSSAT, former French Ambassador in charge of AIDS and other contagious diseases.

Katarina BARLEY, Vice-president of the EU Parliament, former German Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection, former German Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.

Michèle BARZACH, former Minister of Health and Family in France.

Christoph BENN, Director for Global Health Diplomacy at the Joep Lange Institute and former Director of External Relations of the Global Fund.

Sylvie CHANTEREAU, former Executive Director of Friends of the Global Fund Europe.

Patrice DEBRÉ, Professor of Immunology, former French Ambassador in charge of AIDS and other contagious diseases.

Michel GOLDMAN, founder of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation (I3h) at the Université libre de Bruxelles.

Michel KAZATCHKINE, Special Advisor to the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe), former Executive Director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Lesley-Anne LONG, President & CEO at GBC Health.

Neven MIMICA, former European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development.

Stephen Rothwell O’BRIEN, KBE, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development.

Leire PAJIN IRAOLA, former Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation, former Spanish Minister for Health, Social Policy and Equality .

Andris PIEBALGS, former Secretary of State for European Affairs in Latvia and former European Commissioner for Development.

Guido SCHMIDT-TRAUB, Partner at SYSTEMIQ.

Robert SEBBAG, Expert in public health.

Marco SIMONELLI, Researcher at the Global Health Center of the Italian National Institute of Health ISS.