From Danail Dimov, Chairman of HAE Bulgaria:
The VII National Congress of Allergology with international participation was held in Sofia, Bulgaria 16 to 18 November 2018. The main focus of the congress was to raise the awareness of allergy professionals and the general public about the rare forms of angioedema.
A lecturer on HAE was Professor Marco Cicardi, a world-renowned scientist at the University of Milan, a visionary who has changed medical knowledge about HAE and who is extremely committed to the cause of patients with this disease worldwide. The congress was visited by allergic physicians from around the country who listened with great interest to Professor cicardi’s lecture on HAE.
The Hereditary Angioedema Association Bulgaria, in partnership with the Bulgarian Society of Allergology and the specialists of the Allergy Clinic of Alexandrovska University Hospital, developed and provided for each participant in the congress a special information leafleton HAE in order to raise awareness among allergology specialists and to facilitate diagnosis and propertreatment of HAE. The information leaflet contains thebasic information about the disease – symptoms and signs, ways to diagnose, treatment options, possible crises complications, and information on specialized treatment centers. The prospectus also provides a link to the website of the Hereditary Angioedema Association Bulgaria, which in turn contains detailedinformation on the illness that could benefit all doctorsand patients.
The interest of the specialists in HAE provoked by Professor Cicardi’s lecture was followed by a spontaneous discussion between allergic physicians and representatives of the Hereditary Angioedema Association Bulgaria on the problems and difficulties of patients in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease in the various hospitals in the country.
As a continuation of the campaign to raise awareness of HAE across Bulgaria on 17 November, the National Palace of Culture in Sofia was illuminated in purple to support all patients suffering from HAE.
The congress and all of its accompanying information campaign on HAE were widely reported in a number of central and specialized print and electronic media in Bulgaria.
