It is with great sadness that the WFH learned of the recent passing of Val Bias, former CEO of the National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) and an instrumental member of the bleeding disorders community. Bias was CEO of NHF from 2008 to 2019, and prior to that, Chairman of the NHF Board of Directors for two years. He played an important role in many bleeding disorders organizations around the world—including the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH), where he was an important contributor for the WFH Twinning Program and co-chaired the WFH World Congress in Orlando, U.S.A, in 2016. He passed away on December 30, 2021.
Val Bias led NHF into an era of expanded impact, building programs and collaborating with other organizations like the WFH. At the government level, he worked to put in place regulatory frameworks in the United States that would make sure tragedies like the HIV/AIDS blood tainting scandal wouldn’t be repeated.
On behalf of the global bleeding disorders community, the WFH would like to express its deepest sympathies to all of Val Bias’s family members, friends, and colleagues.
Click here to read statements from WFH leaders, and here to read a letter of appreciation from Glenn Pierce. To read the statement released by NHF, please click here.