Lifting The Burden Newsletter - Issue 3 (June 2008)

Welcome to LTB News, a regular newsletter to keep you up to date with what's happening - and what is planned to happen - in Lifting The Burden: the Global Campaign to Reduce the Burden of Headache Worldwide.

Welcome to the latest issue of LTB News. Firstly, many thanks to those who responded to our request for insights into how headache affects people's lives for the World Health Organization/Lifting The Burden publication Voices from Under the Burden. We now have some valuable personal perspectives on the impact of headache disorders on everyday living.

We welcome further stories, in sufferers' own words, so if you work with anyone you feel has a story to share, especially people from regions of the world where the burden of headache is under-reported, such as Asia, Africa and Latin America, then please send details to the usual e-mail address below. Stories should be around 500 words (maximum 2 pages).

This publication is only a small part of the various projects being undertaken by Lifting The Burden. This month we focus on the former USSR. We report some pilot work underway on measuring the burden of headache in Russia - an area where there is little knowledge of the number of sufferers - and we announce the launch of the first headache service in Georgia.

To contact me on any subjects relating to this newsletter, or that may be of interest, please use my email: isismedical@btinternet.com. If you need help with any technical issues regarding the newsletter then please contact: technical.support@l-t-b.org.

And remember to bookmark http://www.l-t-b.org for all that's new - and not new - from Lifting The Burden: the Global Campaign to Reduce the Burden of Headache Worldwide.

What's been done

• Launch of the first headache service in Georgia - Georgia is one of the first countries to participate in a Lifting The Burden prevalence study (as reported in Issue 2). Now, work is underway to launch the country's first headache service and monitor the impact this has on sufferers' welfare. For more, click here.

• Russian prevalence pilot underway - as announced in the last issue, the second Russian prevalence pilot is now underway in Smolensk. This will pave the way for a full scale population-based survey sampling urban and rural populations in 21 of the 22 areas of Russia. For more, click here.

Helping to treat headache

• New leaflets are in preparation, including a medicines guide, secondary headaches and warning signs of serious headaches.

About Lifting The Burden

• For a reminder of Lifting The Burden's vision and aims, click here.

And to end for now ...

We welcome your feedback and thoughts on Lifting The Burden, so don't hesitate to get in touch.

Marianne Mac Donald
Editor