STOP URTICARIA on ,

STOP URTICARIA Hungary joined the first World Urticaria Day with several activities in different cities. In Debrecen a day before 1 October patients were invited and informative lectures were delivered on the subject of urticaria presented by distinguished professors from Dept. of Dermatological Allergology, University of Debrecen. It was then followed by a talk on patient-runned societies/clubs. After these lectures an informal reception was held for the attending participants (patients, relatives and other visitors) providing an opportunity for open discussions with dermatological experts on various subjects connected to urticaria. There was over 30 people attending the event which really opened the horizon before the patients and they seemed to be very active, even on starting their first Urticaria Club in Hungary. A decision was made that further help will be provided by dermatologists to start raising public awareness by opening a web-site in Hungarian for patients where one can find more information on urticaria. It was a fruitful event overall! In Budapest the Hungarian Dermatological Society organized a street urticaria disease awareness campaign on 1 October in order to decrease prejudice of the society about patients with skin diseases and to help to understand how patients with urticaria live and feel. On the street, people received educational materials about the disease, and they were explained where to turn for further information on urticaria. Tamara Cserháti, Miss World Hungary 2012, has been asked to be the ambassador of urticaria. In a photo studio she was masked with wheals and hives to prepare an educational stop motion video about the unpredictable and unbearable nature of the disease. This video was displayed to people on the streets, and has also been posted on youtube. You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU04W7WV1dk Furthermore the Hungarian Dermatological Society organized a press conference as well with a round table discussion that attracted a high number of journalists. In the meantime, radio talk-show was held in a national radio about urticaria, with urticaria patients and specialist physicians being interviewed. These two days were representing only the beginning of a long journey ahead of us and the Hungarian urticaria community!