Help hospitals to save lives

[PRESS INVITATION 2011-05-16] On Friday 20 May, International Clinical Trials Day, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital and the Stockholm County Council will be hosting the third annual Forskning & Hälsa (Science and Health) fair in Stockholm´s Kungsträdgården. The event is being held to inform the public about the importance of supporting healthcare and research. If we all give blood, agree to be an organ donor, or take part in scientific studies and clinical trials, everyone will have a better chance of a healthier life. Every little helps!

"Without this type of public support we wouldn´t be able to provide effective healthcare and we´d miss out on important scientific advances," says Annika Tibell, director of the Transplant surgery Clinic at Karolinska University Hospital and docent at Karolinska Institutet. "Our hospitals are crying out for blood and organ donors and need many more people willing to stand as experimental subjects."

Test your health

Journalists and members of the public are invited to come and check their health. Medics will be on hand to give skin prick tests for skin changes and allergies, measure blood pressure, blood sugar levels and lung capacity, and teach women what to feel for when checking for breast tumours. Visitors will also be able to weigh themselves on body fat scales to discover their fat/muscle ratio, and obtain medical advice about rashes and eczema from nurses as well as answers to their questions about diet and exercise from lifestyle specialist Mai-Lis Hellénius.

Be a blood donor - every little helps!

The blood bus will be there for people wishing to give blood or register as donors. They will also be able to:

- put their names onto the donor register

- sign up as an experimental subject for clinical trials

- join LifeGene - a research project for better health

- learn heart/lung resuscitation

- taste the food available in Stockholm´s hospitals.

Popular science lectures

Some of Sweden´s leading specialists will be presenting the latest medical research. Amongst them will be docent Carl Johan Sundberg on exercise and health, Professor Martin Ingvar on the powers and limitations of the brain, Mai-Lis Hellénius, professor of cardiovascular prevention and consultant, on the importance of exercise, and Mårten Rosenqvist, professor of cardiovascular diseases, on detecting auricular fibrillation in the prevention of stroke.

• Date and time: Friday 20 May, 11.00 am - 6.00 pm
• Venue: Kungsträdgården, Stockholm

• For more details visit www.forskningochhalsa.se

During the Science & Health fair in Kungsträdgården, a number of high-profile people will be showing their support for research, including Minister for Health and Social Affairs Göran Hägglund, top businessman and liver transplantee Sören Gyll, and founder of the 1.6 Million Club Alexandra Charles, whose husband died suddenly while awaiting a new heart.

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