Bulgaria

Denmark

Up, Up and away........in Denmark

The Danish Parkinson's Disease Association will be celebrating James Parkinson’s birthday by holding conferences in two of their largest cities, Copenhagen and Aarhus, on the 11 April, World Parkinson’s disease Day.

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An open invitation has been extended to all the associations’ members and healthcare professionals working in the field of Parkinson’s, and it is anticipated that up to 800 will participate. The celebrations will not only include presentations by Danish PD specialists such as Karsten Ellemann, Erik Lehfeldt, Morten Meyer and Carsten Bjarkam but during the afternoon participants will be entertained by famous Danish dancers, followed by 1600 red balloons being released– 800 in each city.

Celebrations are not only being held on the 11 April. On the 10th, many members of the Danish Parkinson’s Disease Association will be out on the Denmark streets handing out leaflets, promoting the association and the work it carries out.

3 days prior, the national newspapers will carry advertisements about all these activities, thanks to the worldwide advertising bureau Saatchi and Saatchi of Copenhagen who, for the second successive year, are carrying out pro bono advertising for a good cause.

Egypt

World Parkinson's Disease Day welcomed in the land of the Pharaohs

The final journey of the Global Declaration for Parkinson’s Disease ‘Moving and Shaping’ was celebrated on 10 April, 2008 at the Four Seasons Hotel, Cairo, Egypt.

Held under the auspices of Prof. Hatem El Gabaly, The Minister of Health and Population, Egypt celebrated the Declarations launch in the sixth and final World Health Organisation (WHO) region, the Eastern Mediterranean.

The journey that began in December 2003 in Mumbai, India has ended in just over four years. The Declaration has travelled to all the WHO regions raising awareness and heightening the profile of PD.

The conference, hosted by WHO Working Group members Jonathan Carr (Africa), Oscar Gershanik (Argentina), Yoshikuno Mizuno (Japan), Ashraf Kurdi (Jordan), Alla Guekht (Russia), and Leslie Findley (UK), welcomed Egyptian Ministry of Health representative Dr. Nasser Loza and WHO representative Dr M.Taghi Yasamy, and EPDA President, Stephen Pickard (Belgium).

The impact of the Declaration throughout the regions was the focus of the morning followed by an afternoon of scientific presentations involving Hany Aref, Saher Hashem and Ahmed Shakal (Egypt), Saeed Bohlega and Nael Hasan (Saudi Arabia) Tuna Burgut (Qatar) and Egyptian Ossama Morsi who now lives in Spain.

Signing the Global Declaration

 

For speaker presentations and conference details, please see the conference site.

Estonia

Education, culture and music is the name of the game in Estonia

 

Traditionally, World PD Day is celebrated with a public conference that all people interested in chronic diseases and movement disorders can attend including healthcare professionals, people with PD and their family members. They have the opportunity to listen to an invited lecturer and presentations on general cultural topics as well as a presentation given by a member of the Estonian Parkinson’s Association. The conference is always followed by a short concert.

This year on the 5 April in Tartu, the Person and Health – Care for Yourself conference was chaired by Dean of Medical Faculty, Professor Toomas Asser. Their guest speaker Stephen Pickard, EPDA President spoke about ‘The importance of listening to the patients’ ; Aadu Must, Professor in Archives Sciences, spoke about the history of family names in Estonia and Silvia Pabut represented Tartu Parkinson’s Disease Society.

The conference closed with a traditional concert including a performance by young flautists and followed by a dinner.

 

Hungary

India

“Yes, I may have Parkinson’s but Parkinson’s will not have me!” a message reinforced throughout World PD Day celebrations in Mumbai, India

 

11 April, globally commemorated as Parkinson’s day, is celebrated each year by The Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder Society (PDMDS), with people with Parkinson’s, their caregivers and the medical fraternity. It reflects the diverse group involved in Parkinson’s everyday and is an occasion for them to come together and share their experiences of working towards improving quality of life.

This year, the celebrations were held at the S.P.Jain, Auditorium, Bombay Hospital, Mumbai with Dr.B.S.Singhal founder member of the PDMDS welcoming the gathering and thanking the guests of honor Ms Priya Dutt (Member of Parliament), Ms Ritika Sahani (Singer and Disability activist) and Dr.P.C.Shastri (eminent psychiatrist). The traditional lighting of the lamp and a warm welcome song by members of the Borivili Support Group followed with Ms. Dutt signing the Global Declaration and pledging her allegiance to the global movement towards improving the life of those with Parkinson’s.

Dr. S.M.Katrak evoked a sense of hope and drive to meet each challenge of Parkinson’s every step of the way in his message and Dr. Barretto (coordinator-PDMDS) briefly presented the work and services of the PDMDS. Support group activities were particularly appreciated while future ventures of reaching out to people with advanced and early onset Parkinson’s provided yet another ray of hope.

Ms. Dutt, remembering her father, the late Mr. Sunil Dutt and his gallant struggle to recover from a stroke, spoke of faith, hope, love and support as being the chief factors behind his recovery. She highlighted the inspiration she felt by the ‘hope’ she experienced amongst people with Parkinson’s and caregiver’s and expressed a desire to be associated with the cause and participate in its activities in whatever manner possible.

“Stepping Up, A guide for persons with Parkinson’s” an information book developed by the PDMDS especially for the occasion was presented by Dr. Katrak and Ms. Dutt.

 

A skit, written by Ms. Ila Mehta and essayed by people with Parkinson’s and caregivers from the Borivili and South Mumbai support groups, began a program that displayed a fine balance between creating awareness, disseminating information and entertainment. . The underlying message of the skit beautifully conveyed “Yes, I may have Parkinson’s but Parkinson’s will not have me!” and reflected the solidarity and spirit that people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers display when coping every day, without relenting or letting it bog them down.

Dr. Shastri spoke about depression in Parkinson’s a topic received with great interest as evidenced by the audiences’ feedback and interaction. Ms. Ritika Sahni, who enthralled the audiences with songs, was visibly moved and stimulated the crowd to have faith, to gain strength from each other and whole-heartedly participate in life.

Dr. Rajvi Mehta, from the Iyengar Yogashray presented on the importance of the application of yoga in Parkinson’s emphasizing how it has helped innumerable people and how it continues to improve everyday functioning.

Dr. B. S. Singhal moderated a question and answer session involving a panel of Drs C. Sankla, N. Surya, P. Shastri, P. Doshi and J. Lalkaka on different aspects of PD ranging from treatment options to depression to eating habits. The interaction helped the audience understand the condition better, while the panel gained a better insight into the difficulties experienced by the patient group.

These group interactions reiterated the underlying thread between all the days’ presentations and performances - that of unrelenting strength, hope, faith and solidarity in coping with Parkinson’s and the PDMDS continues its endeavors in this direction.