Hello from Vancouver
cicero
23 May 2006 19:06
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Hello from Vancouver
I am currently attending the World Congress for Haemophilia in Vancouver, Canada. I was hoping to have regular access to an internet connection so I could post daily updates. Unfortunately that is not possible, so for now here is a quick message - more will follow when I return home on Monday.
I arrived here last Saturday and spent a few days sightseeing here in beautiful Vancouver. The views of the city, the bay and the mountains are unbelievably spectacular.
On Thursday, the NMO training seminar began with presentations of the WFH and their strategic plan. There are a lot of initiatives ongoing and more planned. Much of the work of the WFH aims to improve conditions for people with haemophilia in developing countries. An effort that is truly put into perspective by talking to young people from countries such as Indonesia, Colombia, India and many more, where treatment for many is a distant hope.
There have been other sessions focusing on strategies for fundraising and for recruiting and retaining volunteers.
There has been a pretty tight schedule, but it has all been exceptionally well organised and the sessions well presented. The meeting has produced a wealth of new ideas and inspiration for making some of these ideas reality.
On Sunday we moved to hotels downtown, closer to the convention centre, where the World Congress is held. The opening ceremony on Sunday afternoon featured a local bagpipe band and traditional dances by representatives of local British Columbia First Nations tribes (a form of indians). From yesterday and until Thursday, there will be a mixture of plenary and concurrent sessions about a plethora of medical topics as well as issues relating to NMOs (National Member Organisations). Friday there will be the General Assembly for the World Federation for Haemophilia.
On Saturday I will be going on a sightseeing tour up to Whistler mountain with the rest of the Danish delegation, before we all return home on Sunday.
I have a large number of photos from Vancouver, and I will post some of these when I get home, so stay tuned!
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cicero
25 May 2006 23:38
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The awards ceremony at the congress finished just a few minutes ago. At the ceremony, the achievements and dedication of individuals and organisations is recognized. One of the most prestiguous awards in haemophilia treatment, the Inga Nilsson Award, was given to Kathy Mulder. Prof. Bruce Ewatt was awarded the special WFH lifetime achievement award, which is given only on very special occations. He has worked tirelessly on improving haemophilia care around the world for decades and has served on the WFH executive board for 10 years.
Earlier today, at plenary sessions, Prof. David Lillicrap was presented with the Arosenius award for his research in treatment of haemophilia. In his award lecture, he reviewed the current work in genetic therapy that may one day provide the cure for haemophilia. Although the cure is still on the horizon, there are a number of promising avenues of research, which have been proven succesful in animal experiments.
The final sessions of this world congress will be over in a few hours, and in the meantime, preparation is underway for tonights farewell dinner marking the end of the World Congress 2006.
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cicero
30 May 2006 08:13
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Ahh... home again. 14 hours after leaving Vancouver, I am now back in Denmark.
The past 15 days have been a fantastic experience. As a first time participant at a world congress and an NMO training, it is quite overwhelming to see just how many people around the world are working to improve haemophilia care, both in terms of medical research and in building NMO organisations. While the congress gave me some useful insight into current state of the art in treatment, I consider the NMO training to be the most valuable. A amazing array of ideas were shared at the organised sessions, but just as importantly, conversations in the hallways have helped build friendships, facilitated cultural exchange and ideas. With 110 participants from 80 different countries I think we have all learned something new about other countries.
Over the next few days, I will be adding photos and some articles from the congress and the NMO training to Los Bleedos. If you are writing something for your local newsletters or magazines and you would like to also publish it here, then drop me a mail at editors@los-bleedos.net.
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cicero
03 Jun 2006 01:56
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I have added some photos now as well as a short article about the NMO Training session on recruiting volunteers. Go to "Articles" via the menu to find both.
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cicero
10 Jun 2006 01:50
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A new batch of Vancouver photos is online now. Find them via the Vancouver article or go there directly.
Thanks to David, Edwin and Siddhartha for submitting the photos.
To get your photos on the site, send them to us at editors@los-bleedos.net!
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cicero
13 Jun 2006 23:17
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Yet another batch of photos uploaded - this time some of my own. Most of them are tourist photos of sights in and around Vancouver.
Check out the panorama shot from Coal Harbour, if you click on the image, the full size image will load. Be patient, though - it is about 750 kb.
Hope you enjoy them!
Note: all the images have been scaled down. If you would like to use any of the images for your newsletter or similar, just send me an email or post in my guestbook and ask for the full-size version of the image. It will look much better in print.
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cicero
14 Jun 2006 07:50
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Ooops! Forgot to say where I put the photos. They are on the "Contributed photos" page:
http://www.los-bleedos.net/LBI/Articles/Vancouver%202006/Contributed%20photos.aspx
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