International News Headlines
Kissing for a Cure: PHA-UK Invites you to join a global effort to raise awareness with Blue Lip Idol
Last year, PH community members around the world put on blue lipstick and participated in PHA-UK’s Pucker Up 4 PH campaign, which raised awareness of PH by collecting blue kisses on postcards. The groups gathered more than 9,500 lip prints and inspired communities everywhere to pucker up in support of PH awareness.
 PHA-UK hoped to use the momentum gained from the support of 19 PH associations and support groups from around the world to break a Guinness World Record in 2009 by collecting 40,000 blue lip prints. The risk of N1H1 made it necessary to postpone that campaign until 2010. In response, the group has quickly switched gears and has launched an exciting summertime campaign, Blue Lip Idol.
As of July 6, 2009, PHA-UK is collecting photos that show PHers and their pals sporting their best puckers. One amongst you or your network of friends or contacts could be selected as the official Blue Lip Idol – and will be invited to make an impression of their world-famous smooch for use as the Pucker Up 4 PH logo in 2010!
You can show your support and raise awareness in a fun way by uploading your blue lip digital photos to PuckerUp4PH.com. But you have to hurry! The entry period will close by the end of the summer, with the winning lips announced during the UK’s PH Awareness Week, September 20-26, 2009.
Visit PuckerUp4PH.com or contact Christine at international@PHAssociation.org or 301-565-3004 x760 for more information or to get involved!
Spring 2009 Advances in Pulmonary Hypertension to reach readers soon!
 Advances in Pulmonary Hypertension was introduced in 2002 as the first medical journal devoted to the study of PH. The quarterly journal reaches more than 40,000 physicians in over 63 countries.
Since spring 2008, the “International Corner” of the journal has featured worldwide news, clinical experiences, and research findings. This spring, Dr. Anne Keogh of Australia contributes. The latest issue will reach readers at the end of July.
Contact Christine at international@PHAssociation.org to add your PH physician to the mailing list.
Read Advances in Pulmonary Hypertension online! Look at past issues of the journal, and read about Dr. Julio Sandoval’s perspective on the 2008 International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions (available in English and en Español!), Dr. Adam Torbicki’s thoughts on transplantation and treatment in Europe and Poland (also available po polski), and much more!
Congratulations PHA-UK and PHA Canada!
Defending Access to PH Treatments: Victories in Canada and the United Kingdom!
The PH community in the UK won a year-long battle to defend access to PH treatments and the integrity of specialized PH treating centers on April 6, when the country’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence dropped a proposal that threatened the withdrawal of a range of life-saving PH treatments and cast doubt on the future of eight PH centers. More than 32,000 community members supported the opposition to the N.I.C.E. proposed guidelines.
Learn more about PHA-UK’s work!
The fight for PH care and treatments is one that must be fought on many fronts, but the dedication of PH communities worldwide ensures that it is won again and again.
On May 15, PHA Canada and the PH community in Ontario countered restrictions imposed by the Ontario Public Drug Program that limited the ability of physicians to adequately and efficiently treat PH. The victory overturned policies that had been in place for a year.
PHA Canada continues to work hard to win access to combination therapies. For more information about the OPDP victory, visit PHA Canada's website.
The successes of PHA-UK and PHA Canada are important boosts to PH communities in other countries that face similar threats and restrictions.
Join in the International Work Toward a Cure for PH: Refer your doctor to PH Clinicians and Researchers
PHA offers medical professionals and PH researchers a dedicated membership section that connects those who work against PH around the world. If you are a physician or researcher who needs to know more about PH, and to be engaged in a global network of experts, specialists, and colleagues, visit the PHCR section of our website for information on how to apply.
By joining PHCR, you support an international effort to educate and raise awareness of PH. You will be among the first to know about PH developments and will receive PHA's quarterly medical journal, Advances in Pulmonary Hypertension.
You will be connected through the PHCR email listserv to physicians and researchers from all over the world, and you will be featured on PHA’s Find-A-Doc website listing. Membership in PHCR also grants access to an online medical resources section that includes consensus statements from PHA’s Scientific Leadership Council.
PHCR members receive discounted registration rates to PHA’s biennial International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions (next held June 26-27, 2010, in Orange County, Calif.), as well as a complimentary copy of PHA’s Patient Survival Guide, which has already been translated into five languages. You also become a member of PHA and receive the benefits and opportunities of membership.
Let your doctors know about PH Clinicians and Researchers. Encourage them to get plugged into the largest international network of PH treating physicians and the most innovative, important research on PH. Direct them to PHA's Doctor Benefits to learn more about why they should join.
First-Ever Canadian PH Conference Announced for September 2009!
PHA Canada and HTAP Quebec are partnering to plan for the first Eastern Canadian PH Conference, which will be held in Montreal from September 25-27, 2009. 
The event will bring together patients, caregivers and the top PH specialists in the country, and will feature lectures and educational sessions in both English and French, the country’s two official languages. PHA Canada hopes to organize the conference every two years, hosting it in various major Eastern Canadian cities.
Learn more at PHA Canada's website, or contact PHA Canada’s National Manager at ASlubowska@PHACanada.ca.
Check Out AMiHAP Brazil’s TV Spot and Lend an Ear to PHA-UK’s EmPHAsis, On Air!
AMiHAP, the Brazilian Mining Association of PAH, released a TV commercial educating the public about PH and available treatments. The campaign aims to give hope to both PH patients and those who might be diagnosed with the illness by focusing on the effects that the right treatment can have in allowing PH patients to lead social, professional, and happy lives. More information, available in Portuguese, is available on the campaign website.
Across the Atlantic, PHA-UK has conquered the airwaves! This spring, they aired the first edition of a radio program for PHers in the UK (and for anyone who has access to a computer! The show is available on their website). EmPHAsis ‘on air’ is a dynamic broadcast that invites patients, caregivers and experts in the field of PH to discuss everything from intimacy to tattoos and share their experiences and ideas – even their poetry!
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