Newsletter June 2008

Dear friends,

The shy and rainy spring has finally given way to sunny days, summer is now spreading its warmth all over Europe and…..here comes my turn to be writing to you with an update from the Board!

Toxins 2008 - 6th International Conference on Basic and Therapeutic Aspects of Botulinum and Tetanus Toxins.

Baveno, a small town on the western coast of Lake Maggiore, hosted the Toxins 2008 conference from 12 to 14 June. I was there on behalf of EDF, with a desk displaying the D-E 2008 conference programme and general information on dystonia. The scientific committee included Alberto Albanese, Mark Hallet, Joseph Jankovic, and the programme brought together most of the top world experts on botulinum toxin. The 700 attendees – neurologists, as well as other medical professionals - came from all over the world, from USA to Korea, from Kazakistan to Turkey. Not all of them were interested in dystonia, as the conference covered a wide range of topics including spasticity, gastrointestinal and urological disorders, as well as dermatological and cosmetic indications. However, at the end of the two days some 200 copies of the programme had been handed out.

More copies of the programme were delivered at the conference ‘The dystonic child’ (see EDF home page), attended by 140 neurologists, by the chairman of the Italian Dystonia Group (ARD), who also joined me in Baveno on the last day of the Toxins conference.

Promoting Dystonia Europe 2008 Conference

As mentioned by Monika in her May letter, you will receive a supply of flyers with the D-E 2008 conference programme.

Didi Jackson and Alistair Newton have been doing an excellent job with the conference arrangements and we expect it to be a huge success. However, we can’t emphasize enough how important your cooperation is in spreading the news and getting the flyers to as many health professionals as possible. We invite you to send them to neurologists, physiotherapists and health professionals working with dystonia patients.

Some of you have already put a link to the conference site on their group’s website, and I would recommend that all of you do the same.

Another way to get further publicity is by contacting the neurological societies in your countries and asking them to put a link on their website.

Programme arrangements for GA will follow by Monday, 21^st at the latest.

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That’s all by me. Please do not forget to contact the Board if there is any information about your group you would like to be mentioned in next newsletter!

I wish you a pleasant summer. See you in Hamburg!

Anna Moiana