TFI Launches ThyroWorld

Excerpted from ThyroWorld, Volume 1, No. 1, Autumn, 1997

The Third Annual Conference of Thyroid Federation International (TFI), an alliance of patient-oriented organizations, which was held August 28 -30 in Munich, Germany, was a tremendous success with attendance from ten countries: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, U.K., and the U.S.A.

Greetings and best wishes for a successful meeting were received with appreciation from Diana Meltzer Abramsky, Founder and Patron TFI, Kingston; Gary Bennett, Mayor of Kingston and John Gerretsen, M.P.P. Kingston and the Islands.

Fourteen media members were in attendance at a press conference given by Prof. Dr. med. Peter Pfannenstiel, Germany, vice-president and Dr. Lawrence C. Wood, U.S.A., president, Prof. Dr. med. Roland Gartner, Germany, and Prof. Dr. P. Scriba. At issue and of great interest was the problem of iodine deficiency.

The delegates to the conference were busy with business. By-laws were passed, a mission statement and objectives were developed. Don McKelvie, Canada, has agreed to prepare a Policy and Procedures Manual and to apply for Letters Patent in Canada.

TFI is extremely pleased Dr. Robert Volpé Canada, has accepted the position of Medical Adviser. He will review thyroid research projects and make a report to TFI membership at annual meetings.

Cedric Allaby, Canada was named legal adviser to TFI.

Sir Richard Bayliss, U.K., a very well-known physician and author of Thyroid Disease: The Facts agreed to become an Honorary Patron.

Merck, KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany was thanked by Joe Boyce, Canada for their continued support. Joe also thanked Knoll Pharma Inc. for a $15,000 donation for the sponsorship of ThyroWorld, a new publication launched by TFI this fall.

Dr. Ulrike Hostalek, Germany reported on the ThyroMobil Campaign. The ThyroMobil is equipped with an ultrasound machine and travels throughout Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and the Netherlands checking for thyroid pathology. During February, 1998, ThyroMobil will be in Indochina.

Dr. Hostalek spoke also of a rapid urine test for iodine deficiency disease (IDD) which gives results in ten minutes. This breakthrough in testing for IDD can be done "in the field" and will identify patients for further testing. The test however, does not differentiate between mild and severe cases.

TFI will take on as an international project the promotion of the need for newborn thyroid screening and lifelong follow-up treatment for congenital hypothyroidism. Professor Annette Gruters-Kieslich, Pediatric Thyroidologist at Berlin University made a presentation on Newborn Screening for Congenital Hypothyroidism in which she pointed out that some children are being missed due to human error in the testing process.

Another initiative was a project to support the use of thyroid disorders as an overall teaching model in medical schools considering the fact that essentially every system in the body is affected in one way or another by thyroid disease. TFI will be sending a letter to that effect to the Deans of every medical school. This is a truly unique step for a truly unique international organization.

Sincere appreciation was expressed to Thyroid Foundation of Canada for their generous assistance to TFI by providing rent-free office space and to Katherine Keen for her able help as well as to all who volunteered to get TFI established.

Next year's conference will be held May 1998, in Pieria, Greece.