The prevention of anaphylaxis in educational centers has become one of the main priorities of the Spanish Association of People with Food and Latex Allergies (Aepnaa). Its president, Ángel Sánchez, in this interview in Demócrata, claims that all schools should have protocols to manage allergens, train staff in recognizing severe allergic reactions, and ensure an immediate response when an emergency occurs. The goal is that the safety of minors does not depend on the autonomous community in which they study nor on whether their families have managed to organize the necessary measures to protect them on their own.
The organization considers that the approval of an instruction from the Government of the Balearic Islands to ensure the safe schooling of students with allergies constitutes an important advance and can serve as a reference for other autonomous communities. The initiative reinforces attention to anaphylaxis within the school alert system aimed at children with severe chronic conditions and establishes measures to improve the response capacity of public centers.
"We are sincerely excited," says Sánchez, who highlights the collaboration between the Ministries of Education and Health of the Balearic Executive and the political commitment that has allowed the measure to move forward. The association hopes that this experience facilitates the approval of a broader regulation that can extend to the entire educational system.
The claim arises from a situation that Aepnaa considers hardly justifiable: a severe allergic reaction can occur in a school and require immediate intervention, even if there is no medical personnel on site. In those cases, having clear protocols, trained professionals, and accessible medication can be decisive.
An immediate response to anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction, occurring rapidly and potentially fatal. It can be triggered by food, insect stings, medications, or other allergens. In the school context, food allergies pose specific difficulties because children share spaces, cafeterias, and activities where accidental exposures can occur.
The situation is especially delicate for young children. While a teenager may better recognize risks, identify foods they should avoid, and actively participate in managing their condition, a five-year-old child does not have the same autonomy to make decisions and protect themselves.
For this reason, Aepnaa has been focusing a good part of its activity on creating safe educational environments for years. Sánchez recalls that in 2013 a consensus document on the management of food allergies in educational centers was approved in Spain. That text aimed to encourage autonomous communities, responsible for the ordinary management of schools, to develop concrete measures to protect students.
However, thirteen years have passed until the association has achieved progress like that of the Balearic Islands. For its president, the experience demonstrates both the complexity of the process and the importance of health and education administrations working together.
"Anaphylaxis in the educational center is a health issue, evidently, but it occurs within the educational center, where there is usually no health personnel", he explains. The response, therefore, must be organized in advance and cannot depend on improvisations when an emergency has already occurred.
The association considers it essential for centers to have a policy for managing food allergens, that staff know how to recognize the symptoms of anaphylaxis, and that they are prepared to administer the indicated medication.
At this point, Sánchez emphasizes the importance of adrenaline, the first-line treatment for anaphylaxis. The speed of administration is fundamental, which is why the president of Aepnaa advocates that professionals who must attend to a minor have the training and necessary means to act without avoidable delays.
The association also demands that the responsibilities of those involved in the emergency be adequately defined. Alerting emergency services is necessary, but it should not become a reason to postpone immediate action when there is a well-founded suspicion of anaphylaxis.
The collaboration of families constitutes another essential element. Parents must communicate to the school the diagnosis, provide the relevant clinical information, and participate in the development of the individualized measures that each student requires. For Aepnaa, this collaboration must be integrated into an organized system, without transferring to families all the responsibility of ensuring the safety of their children.
Balearic Islands, a model for other communities
The instruction approved by the Balearic Government incorporates anaphylaxis into the school alert framework that already includes immediate attention to minors with severe chronic conditions, such as diabetes or epilepsy. According to Sánchez, training related to severe allergic reactions has also been reinforced, and the supply of adrenaline to educational centers is planned, taking into account the needs of students and different ages.
One of the aspects that the association highlights is that not all children who may suffer from anaphylaxis have known histories of such a reaction. Therefore, prevention cannot be limited to identifying those who have already experienced a severe episode.
The president of Aepnaa states that the Balearic model encompasses the main demands that the entity has been conveying to the administrations for years. Now, its goal is to extend this line of work to other territories.
The association has initiated a new round of institutional contacts to promote statements in the regional parliaments coinciding with World Allergy Day, which is celebrated on July 8. According to Sánchez, the Congress of Deputies and the parliaments of Catalonia, the Community of Madrid, and the Canary Islands have supported institutional statements that focus on the importance of anaphylaxis and the need to advance towards safe and inclusive schooling.
These statements do not replace specific regulation, but they can contribute to placing the problem on the political agenda and pushing for legislative measures. Aepnaa wants to take advantage of institutional support so that the protection of students with allergies no longer depends on specific initiatives and becomes an effective guarantee.
The association argues that the system must include three pillars: prevention of exposure to allergens, training to recognize and treat a severe reaction, and availability of the necessary resources to respond quickly. In addition, coordination between educational centers, families, and health services is added.
A European alliance to incorporate anaphylaxis into the public agenda
The claim of Aepnaa transcends Spanish borders. The association participates in ACT for Anaphylaxis, a European alliance that aims to give greater visibility to anaphylaxis and incorporate it into community policies and strategies.
Sánchez recalls that allergy constitutes a growing health problem and cites European estimates indicating that by 2050 half of the population could have some type of allergy. He also points out that it is currently estimated that around 20 million people in Europe have food allergies, some of which can trigger severe reactions.
The alliance does not intend for the European Union to assume health competencies that fundamentally correspond to the States and their territorial administrations. Its purpose is to leverage community capacity to promote strategies, recommendations, and initiatives that help reduce differences between countries.
"It cannot be that, depending on the postal code or the European country in which you live, you are safer or have more or less peace of mind in the face of anaphylaxis", emphasizes the president of Aepnaa.
The inequality in school protection is one of the reasons that have driven this initiative. Sánchez mentions a 2024 study focused on European schools that identified significant differences between countries. In his opinion, that disparity highlights the need to establish common bases that facilitate prevention and response to severe allergic reactions.
The alliance was officially presented on September 9 in the European Parliament, with a first meeting specifically dedicated to anaphylaxis in educational centers. Among its members are European organizations of allergology and clinical immunology, emergency medicine, and pediatrics, as well as patient associations.
However, the ambition goes beyond the classrooms. Aepnaa wants anaphylaxis to be taken into account in all environments where an emergency may occur: from workplaces to transportation, spaces with large concentrations of people, and hospitality and restaurant establishments.
For this, the association proposes that the prevention and response to these reactions be incorporated into European initiatives related to school food, emergency preparedness, and population protection. Training, information, and access to medication are the elements it considers fundamental.
Traveling with allergies without depending on the destination
Mobility is another concern for people with food allergies, especially young people. The absence of common criteria can create unequal situations when a person needs to travel by plane and reduce the risk of coming into contact with an allergen.
Sánchez uses as an example the differences in boarding conditions. In some countries, he explains, there are procedures that allow passengers with allergies to board the plane earlier to clean the seat, the tray, and other surfaces. However, these facilities are not guaranteed in the same way everywhere.
The association supports that minimum European recommendations be established so that people with food allergies can travel more safely. The aspiration is that preventive measures do not depend on the company, the country of departure, or the destination.
This approach connects with an idea that Aepnaa advocates in the school context: safety must respond to shared criteria and not be conditioned by the particular circumstances of each territory.
Young people, protagonists of the generational change
The association also promotes initiatives aimed at strengthening the participation of young people with food allergies. One of them is developed within the framework of Erasmus+, with the participation of 24 young people aged between 18 and 27 from Spain, Iceland, France, and Italy, who share their experiences for eight days and work on proposals related to the management of their allergies.
The project aims to create a network of contacts and encourage participants to exchange knowledge from a perspective different from that of adults. For Sánchez, talking among peers makes it easier for recommendations to be understood and incorporated into daily life.
"It is not the dictation that parents make of what you have to do, but it arises from the dialogue among peers," he explains.
The initiative also has a dimension of associative continuity. Aepnaa seeks to prepare young people to take on responsibilities in patient organizations and maintain their activity in the future. Youth participation can also help identify problems that particularly affect this age group.
Among its demands is traveling with greater safety and having homogeneous procedures to prevent accidental exposures during trips. The association hopes that the proposals arising from these meetings can feed into the work of the European alliance and contribute to the protection of people with allergies being regularly integrated into public policies.