The New Year is always a time of reflection on what happened over the past year, what we expected to happen, and what we hope will happen over the coming months.

Over the past year we have so much to be proud of: we survived the stressors of Covid, we had a fantastically successful Camp Purple in January, celebrated World IBD Day at Parliament, launched the “I Can’t Wait Campaign”, held our first seminar for young adults, submitted our petition to fund Stelara, been active in the Pharmac review process, and have increased our engagement with influential legislators.

But what of 2022? There is no way we can foresee the impact of Covid and the new variants, how the transition from twenty DHB’s to a single agency, HealthNZ, will affect us, whether there will be substantial change in the way Pharmac operates, or whether our advocacy work will be successful.

Change can be painfully slow, but if no one speaks up, it will never happen. We need to continue being the “squeaky wheel”, resolute in identifying and pointing out inequities in the system, and, importantly, continue our work in making health care a priority in New Zealand.

Of one thing I have no doubt: Our IBD community is united and strong. Through the combined support of patients, their whanau, doctors and nurses, we have gone from being a relatively obscure organisation, to a real force in the community and government.

I wish everyone a happy, healthy New Year! My heartfelt thanks to our hard-working Board and countless volunteers, our sponsors and fundraisers, and, most of all, to all of you for making a difference.