The Purple Day, or Purple Day, is celebrated annually on March 26th, all over the world, as a day to raise awareness about epilepsy. In 2018, the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) supported the activities organized by Neurinho Association and Neurolife, which took place in Natal (RN) from March 23 to 26, at the OAB auditorium, at the Arena das Dunas stadium and at the Legislative Assembly of Rio Grande do Norte. The program offered activities for both health professionals and patients, family members and interested parties in general, ending with a public hearing with representatives of official bodies. Check out the photo album HERE.
ISD professionals participated in the activities, providing information to demystify the disorder. One example was the activity organized at the Arena das Dunas stadium, where people learned about the disease through a question and answer game, organized by the multidisciplinary team of the Anita Garibaldi Health Education and Research Center (CEPS). At the end of the action, the Arena das Dunas stadium was lit up in purple as a way of supporting the mobilization.
The neurosurgeon and Coordinator of the Specialized Rehabilitation Center (CER III) of ISD, Hougelle Simplicio, participated in two activities throughout the program. In one of them, the doctor gave a lecture explaining the cases in which surgery is recommended to alleviate the symptoms of the disorder. And at the end of the activities alluding to Purple Day, he participated in the Public Hearing at the Legislative Assembly of RN, where he explained to those present some of the work carried out at ISD through CER III, where one of the clinics is specific to patients with epilepsy. The ISD CER works in the areas of hearing, physical and intellectual disabilities. More information can be accessed HERE.
Mobilization to reduce the stigma of the disorder
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), around 50 million people suffer from epilepsy, a chronic disorder that can appear in people of any age and is normally associated with some illness, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or microcephaly, for example.
The Ambassador of Purple Day in Brazil, Eduardo Caminada, was in Natal especially to participate in some actions in the capital of Rio Grande do Norte. He said that epilepsy has been with him since childhood and that the support of his family, especially his mother, encouraged him to deal with the disorder in a more positive way. Eduardo maintains an informative website about the disease, which became a book, Living with Epilepsy: “It is essential that, increasingly, people realize that the responsibility for having a life with less stigma and prejudice is everyone's responsibility and not just someone else's. In activities such as Purple Day We bring these people together and make them feel the need to find themselves in the world as real human beings, knowing their limits, but understanding that a health condition does not determine a lack of life expectancy. Living with epilepsy is possible,” says Caminada.
Text: Ariane Mondo / Ascom – ISD
Cover photo: Luiz Paulo Juttel – Ascom ISD
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Santos Dumont Institute (ISD)
Social organization that maintains ties with the Ministry of Education (MEC) and whose mission is to promote education for life, forming citizens through integrated teaching, research and extension actions and to contribute to a fairer and more humane transformation of the Brazilian social reality.
