CF Centers in Spain

Question

My daughter with CF is now 19 and she wants to go to Spain for a year, at best to Valencia, which is not a condition.
Due to necessary regular check ups, sputum testing and so on we are searching for some CF Centers in Spain, Valencia. Could you please provide us with some contact? Eventualy, what is the situation regarding health care reimbursement in EU countries? Thank you. V. Janda

Answer

Hello,
The reason for delayed reply to your question is the fact that it had been discussed at the European Forum of CF experts during ECORN-CF meeting. Currently there is no list of European CF Centers however intensely European CF Society elaborates on this issue. Thus I can‘t provide you with any contact for CF Center in Valencia because I can’t guarantee comparable level of provided care which you are used to. You can find information about some CF Centers and also patient organizations within Europe, including Spain on the CFWW website: www.cfww.org/member_country/Spain.asp

General information about travelling with CF can be found in the archives of this forum or on: .
When travelling with CF it is very important not to underestimate your health insurance and always carry information about the nature of your illness and a list of all medication in English and at best in the local language of your destination (in your case in Spanish).
As for your health insurance, we are an EU country and therefore within EU your insurance is covered by the „domestic“ health insurance, but this only applies to so called „basic“ medical expenses (each insurance company defines those very accurately). Expenses derived from a chronic disorder are usually not covered. Therefore it is necessary to contact your health insurance company and find out which expenses will be covered and under what condition, potentialy to consider if it would be more advantageous to obtain a travel insurance for outside of the Czech Republic for the time of your daughter’s visit to Spain.
Regards, Jitka Brazova

23.04.2009