WORLD LYMPHEDEMA DAY - On the 6th of March, the AGL association gives away heart designed therapeutic pillows

 

To celebrate World Lymphedema Day, the Galician Association of Lymphedema, Lipedema and Chronic Venous Insufficiency (AGL), an organization that forms part of COGAMI, has scheduled different events during the whole month, most of them developed through social networks in order to avoid health risks due to the current situation in which we are all living.

One of these scheduled events is giving out free therapeutic pillows to all women who have undergone or are undergoing post-operative breast surgery. Through the giveaway of these so-called 'heart pillow', which AGL does in collaboration with the “Caliu de Cor” Association of Barcelona, the pillows or cushions serve to alleviate the pain and discomfort following surgery. The gift will be free of charge and can be purchased by contacting the AGL Association or through the Rolán pharmacy, located in Vilagarcía de Arousa, the municipality in which AGL has its headquarters.

Other actions programmed for this Lymphedema week will be spreading through the AGL social networks Facebook and Instagram, the backing of medical professionals, municipal representatives, and social entities showing their support to people who live with this disease. Finally, there will also be online talks organized by different lymphedema and lipedema associations in Spain which is another of the activities scheduled for the month of March.

This commemorative date also serves to expose the claims of the associative movements in favor of all the people who live with this disease. Some of the requests that AGL appeals are: the establishment in our health system treatment with manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) for all people diagnosed with lymphedema, access to rapid diagnoses, the need for more specialized professionals, and the existence of a database with the number of people affected in Galicia by lymphedema, as well as the creation of a reference center for lymphedema in our community.

Lymphedema is a chronic and progressive disease of the lymphatic system, which can cause severe deformities, disabilities, and complications that can be life-threatening and which also causes psychological and financial burden. In developed countries, 90% of people with lymphedema is caused by cancer treatments.

According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 30 people suffer lymphedema, a disease that affects between 140 and 250 million people around the world and that, and according to organizations that defend the rights of people who live with this disease, it is not given the importance it deserves.

Regarding the incidence of lymphedema in Galicia, and given the lack of official data collected, it is estimated that there are 50,000 people affected, of which 3,000 are women who develop it after being operated for breast cancer. Therefore, this March 6, World Lymphedema Day, the associative movement wants to ensure that there are better treatment options, more funds for research, educational programs for health professionals and better access to specialized care for people who live with lymphedema.

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CAMPAIGN 

For global awareness, it is being asked that the 

WHO - WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, 

name: 

"LYMPHEDEMA - AWARENESS & CURES"

as the World Health Day campaign 

  

  KATHY BATES

LYMPHEDEMA AMBASSADOR

SIGN THE PETITION HERE