Czech Republic

On 25th May 2013 the members and the supporters of the Czech IBD Patients Association met in the Ladronka Park (Prague. It was the first time that patients in the Czech republic celebrated this day. The main goal of this happening was the creation of a giant serpent made out of toilet paper rolls. The serpent symbolized the daily difficulties of the patients with IBD and the increasing amount of IBD patients. The event was held under the patronage of the mayor of Prague.

131 members and the supporters of the association participated , although the weather was not too friendly. 19.706 rolls were collected and together we made the toilet paper roll serpent (snake) with a length of 1.8 km. The sun shone shortly during threading the rolls into the snake as a confirmation of our efforts.

The rolls were collected by IBD patients since September. And not just by those who could come to this happening, but by many other patients who brought the rolls to the gastroenterologists ambulances (the collecting points) or send them to our association´s office. Also doctors and nurses in IBD clinics across the country expressed support for this event and collected the rolls with us. Some of the rolls were painted by children.

The event was attended by the President of the Slovak Crohn Club Mrs. Viola Štěvůrková and Dr. Martin Bortlík, representing the Czech IBD doctors working group. Both representatives actively joined the happening.

The programme continued in the spirit of competitions and games, where the main property was toilet paper. One of the patients – Mrs. Irena Kousalova -who is a singer prepared a small performance of her own songs. The event was finished by the award for the best IBD nurse, who was voted by Czech IBD patients.
One of the gift to our members was the launch of our new website (www.crohn.cz). The patients can add the comments, discuss and inform us about their needs on this website.

The first celebration of the World IBD Day in the Czech republic was really succesful and was preceded by a press conference and visibility in Czech media. We hope we will continue in this tradition in the next years.