Dear All,
First of all, a happy new year to you all!
It doesn’t seem possible that we have managed to get to the end of a frustrating year with all the lockdowns, inability to travel, vaccination passports, and PCR tests. And the bewildering numbers of people worldwide who have contracted the virus, some mildly but many needing hospital admission. And how did that affect the lymphoedema community worldwide? So many services were cancelled as staff were directed to more acute areas of work causing ongoing concern and frustration to the people living with it. In places like Kerala, India, it looked as though a complete service might have to be closed because there was no funding – but through charities, including the ILF, the service is still running.
In the midst of all this, we at the ILF, were able to continue our work in promoting the management of lymphoedema internationally continuing with further evidence produced by the LIMPRINT study, work done in conjunction with the Welsh Framework on genital oedema, a publication on chronic oedema outcomes, and research around the Quality of Life in children with lymphoedema. Much of this has now been published and you will find the link to these within the newsletter.
After having to cancel the 10th ILF Conference twice during 2021 it was a great relief that it went ahead in November. Over 900 people attended either in person or online and the range of speakers, workshops, posters, and the time to network was, according to evaluations, certainly worth waiting for.
So here we are in 2022! We are excited to tell you that we have a new Framework in Saudi Arabia – we are gradually moving into parts of the world we have had no contact with before. Welcome to the Saudi Arabia Lymphoedema Framework.
Dr S. R. Narahari of the Institute of Applied Dermatology in Kerala, India, has been appointed as an ILF Director and will head up a stream within the charity to look at the needs of providing lymphoedema resources within poorly resourced countries.
And, lastly, some recognition for a patient in South Australia – Monique Bareham - through her work and the work of other members of the Lymphoedema Association of South Australia, the South Australian Government is now running a subsidy scheme for compression garments. For this work Monique has been named the SA Local Hero.
We are so looking forward to working with you all and keeping you updated in 2022.
With best wishes,
Christine Moffatt on behalf of the ILF Board of Directors
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