World Alzheimer’s Day and Centenary Activities September 2006
The Malta Dementia Society is delighted to have had such a great response to the activities organized over a period of 3 weeks to celebrate World Alzheimer’s Day and the centenary since the first description of Alzheimer’s Disease by Dr. Alois Alzheimer. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all the members and volunteers who have made this campaign such a success. We will not give credit to any particular individual because otherwise the list will not fit this page.
Our first event was an Interdisciplinary Seminar for Healthcare professionals entitled “A Positive Approach to Dementia Care”, which was held on the 16th September at the Institute of Healthcare. The Seminar was very well received and there were 78 participants from the various healthcare disciplines. The Malta Dementia Society would like to congratulate the organizing committee and all the speakers for their efforts. The seminar succeeded in disseminating our belief of a positive attitude when caring for people with dementia and their loved ones. We would also like to thank the Institute of Healthcare for allowing the use of the conference hall free of charge.
 | 
|
The second event was the Memory Walk – an awareness campaign held in Valletta on the 23rd September. The memory walk is a yearly event organized in many countries around the world to celebrate World Alzheimer’s Day (21st September) and is coordinated by Alzheimer Disease International. This was the second year for the Malta Dementia Society to organize such a walk. The memory walk for this year was a bigger event – thanks to the support of the many volunteers, who were all ready to give their very best. Thus we were able to emphasise the theme for this year’s World Alzheimer’s Day – No Time to Lose! The volunteers wore T-shirts with the message “Worldwide, 1 person every 7 seconds is diagnosed with dementia” surrounding a drawing of a clock face. A festive atmosphere prevailed thanks to the helium-filled bright red balloons by Alzheimer Disease International printed with the centenary message. The Hon. Mrs. Helen D’Amato, Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly and Community Care joined us at the Memory Walk and announced the initiation of new services (an activity centre for people with dementia living in the community at St. Vincent de Paul Residence) which will be available at the end of the year. The event also received good local media cover such as a TV spot on Super 1 TV and a newspaper article on the Sunday Times of the 24th September and two radio programmes on PBS (20th September) and RTK (21st September). Messages of support and solidarity were also received from Mrs. Marie Louise Coleiro Preca (MP), Dr. Simon Busuttil (MEP) and Mr. Joseph Muscat (MEP).
 | 
|
|
Our third event was a Fundraising Car Wash and House-plants sale organized on the 30th September at Zammit Clapp Hospital. Many thanks to all the volunteers and members who came along to give a helping hand. A big thank you to all those who organized the plant-sale and manned the stand. A total sum of Lm 150 was raised through this event.
 | 
|
Read more about how World Azheimer's Day was celebrated in other countries around the world.