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World Menopause Day 2007

World Menopause Day was celebrated on October 18, 2007 in many regions of the world and I have received fascinating reports from many national menopause societies on their activities. These reports are too numerous to give in full here, so I intend to post them on the IMS website in the near future and just give summaries of some of them below.

The IMS organized a Press Briefing for the European media in early October in Zurich, Switzerland. Thirty journalists attended and many more requested press packs. The briefing reflected on the impact of the Women’s Health Initiative and the Million Women Study on HRT and women’s health and provided a snapshot of current attitudes and opinions held by health-care professionals towards HRT, via results from a global survey in six countries of gynecologists and GPs. The meeting concluded with the latest thinking in relation to recommendations for prescribing HRT, from the perspective of the IMS. A Report of this Press briefing will soon be available on the IMS website.

Bangladesh Menopause Society The most important event was the publication of a colourful Newsletter, highlighting the importance of menopause and reprinting the IMS updated recommendations of postmenopausal HT. The Newsletter was circulated to all professionals and interested community and was warmly welcomed by all. Other activities included discussions in the media and on the TV channel, newspaper articles, and seminars – both scientific and public awareness.

Belgian Menopause Society The society organized simultaneous conferences for the lay public in the three main regions of Belgium, on Menopause and Quality of life. More than 1000 participants were expected. A national press release was also made on October 4, on the same topic, in preparation for World Menopause Day.

Greece The Menopause Clinic of Aretaieio Hospital in Athens organized a press conference in which reporters from all major Athens newspapers and two TV channels participated. It was stressed that women should seek medical help, since women in that country need strong encouragement to accept the opportunity for intervention in menopause. The headlines were ‘Hormone therapy is efficient and safe: visit your doctor today’ and ‘Hormone therapy can protect your heart if started soon after menopause’. Reporters were mainly interested in phytoestrogens, which are taken avidly by women in Greece in the context of ‘healthy lifestyle’. The facts were presented concerning phytoestrogens and the lack of documentation concerning their long-term safety. The organizers were very pleased that ‘Menopause’ attracted the interest of the media, since participation was over 80% of the invitations sent.

Indian Menopause Society Activities were organized by nine different Chapters of the Society: Agra, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Nagpur, Pune and Rajkot. These activities included public awareness programmes, free bone mineral density and blood pressure measurements, information on breast self-examination, and talks on menopause management. A full report will be found on the IMS website.

Japan Menopause Society On October 18, to mark the start of Japan Menopause Week, the Society published an advertisement in the Yomiuri Shinbun newspaper (daily circulation of 5.5 million) to publicize the Society’s participation in the worldwide movement to recognize this important area of health. The Society intends to keep this movement going in Japan where the prevalence of HRT use is only 1.5%, which makes them feel as if they are living in an underprivileged nation.

Portuguese Menopause Society The Society organized its 4th International Meeting to celebrate the Day, at which many opinion leaders presented papers and the IMS Press Statement was given to the press. There were many reports in the lay and medical press, the radio and several TV channels. The meeting also celebrated the birthday of Professor Manuel Neves-e-Castro.

Serbian Menopause and Andropause Society There were many activities celebrating the Day in Beograd, Serbia. Many radio and TV programmes gave information about it and members of the Society gave many interviews. As well, five lectures were given with following titles: Male hypogonadism, Metabolic syndrome in aging male, The role of testosterone in aging male, Sexuality in the menopause, and The updated IMS Recommendations.

Spanish Menopause Society (AEEM) The AEEM marked the Day with a Press conference for over 100 representatives of the media and guests. At the conference, the AEEM awarded Ms Celia Villalobos with the IV Award, ‘A new look at life’, for her portrayal of menopause as a stage in a woman’s life that is full and active in all its facets and for her career that has been professional in every stage of her life. Ms Villalobos acted as Health Minister and is now Deputy in the Spanish Government. Many reports in the media followed the press conference.

Uruguay Dr Eduardo Storch sent the IMS Press Release to the media and the Uruguayan Gynecologic Society. The release was published in the e-news of the Society as ‘Día Mundial de la Menopausia’. Dr Storch also gave a TV interview on October 18 and this was shown again in a special and longer programme later in the week.