The main idea and objective of the Polish Nationwide Week of Cystic Fibrosis is regular, annual educational program concerning cystic fibrosis and genetic diseases. The other important issue is to draw public?s attention to importance of screening examination of infants in order to diagnose cystic fibrosis. No civilized country should resign from the possibility of having healthy and fit society. Dropping the idea of screening examinations of infants should be treated as depriving parents of the right to know about their children?s health state and sentencing many newborn infants to being in state of uncertainty about their future. Early diagnosing of sickness presages introduction of a treatment that would prevent heavy malnutrition, which is typical of children who were diagnosed too late. Through an early identification of the disease many symptoms of respiratory system inflammations might be retarded. It is important to add that American scholars estimated that diagnostics procedures of screening examinations are much cheaper and more effective than diagnosing based on clinical symptoms.
Some of the exemplary topics of the campaign were: typical day of a person sick with CF, genetic research, screening examinations of infants and a role of early diagnosing in CF. We address this campaign to regular people who do not know much about CF, its treatment, patients? every day existence, prophylactic and screening examinations. Other important addressees are young married couples, pregnant women, parents of little children, doctors, school and kindergarten teachers. Through reaching these people we draw their attention to issues that may concern their friends, colleagues, people from their school or neighborhood. The main objective of the campaign was to inform and educate by using posters, leaflets, postcards distributed in places where people concerned with the issue might easily acquire them.

Other elements of the campaign were charity concerts which were promoting the knowledge about cystic fibrosis. All benefits from those projects were spent on the Foundation and patients under our care. What is more, we invited people representing different media to incorporate them into our campaign. They might be very helpful with spreading information about our patients? problems and struggles, especially on the internet. During the 4th Week of cystic fibrosis among all organizations supporting our foundation there was a large group of medicine students, who were very prone to help us with the project and enriched our knowledge about this illness. Thanks to ?The Teddy Bear Hospital? project our campaign mobilized new volunteers. All those actions convince us that we need to organize more Weeks of Mucoviscidosis in the future. We would like to continue our campaign to highlight the superior objective of the foundation ? to inform and make the public aware of CF.

   23.02 – 1.03. 2009 VIII Ogólnopolski Tydzień Mukowiscydozy (In Polish)