“THEL MelanomaDay it’s a day when something beautiful happens: we talk about preventionyou learn something, yes donate screening visits. In short, we do good and invest in health», he explains Gianluca Pistore, scientific popularizer and founder of the National Day dedicated to Melanoma following the death of his father. «The first time I thought of MelanomaDay I didn’t have clear ideas, I was thinking of an event in memory of my father Silvio that would also help others through the awareness raising and free screenings. But over the years, with the passing of the various editions, every time I told the my community on social media who follows me from all over Italy I realized that there is a need for many MelanomaDays in every corner of Italy».
Melanoma Prevention: a team game with the other associations
«So I launched the proposal to other associations and bodies that are committed to the prevention of melanoma to join us and create a national event to send out a very strong message, the Carolina Zani Melanoma Foundation (Brescia), with which we have had an extraordinary relationship since its foundation. Then they joined with enormous enthusiasm Together with the sun inside (Bergamo) there Melanoma Onlus Foundation (Naples), the hospital institution Ospedali Galliera (Genoa), the Piccoli Punti association (Padua), the MelaVivo association (Fiumicino) and the Flea in the ear association (Chiavari) as well as volunteers from our MelanomaDay association present in various cities of Italy, especially Chivasso and Catania. So on Saturday 6 May we launched a wave of prevention that hit all of Italy, from north to south.”
The sponsorships of scientific societies
«Since the beginning, even the scientific societies that sponsored the event have believed in this project, theItalian Melanoma Intergroupthe Sidemast and theADOI whose presidents connected live with us on May 6 and I thank them for their ability to connect the scientific world with that of patient associations.»
A success never achieved before
«Wherever MelanomaDay took place, it went great, from the walk in Franciacorta organized by the Carolina Zani Melanoma Foundation which saw 600 participantsi at the extraordinary conference organized by Marina Rota (and subsequent screenings) with Insieme con il Sole Dentro, at the exhibition of paintings in memory of Roberta Repetto organized by La Pulce nell’Orecchio. Free visits to the Galliera in Genoa sold out in no time.
Melanoma Prevention: the screenings donated were very many
Same fate for the Melanoma Onlus Foundation which offered them in Salerno where Prof. Paolo Ascierto also arrived to send a greeting and a message of awareness for MelanomaDay. The activities of Piccoli Punti in Padua and MelaVivo in Rome were also incredibly successful. In Cassino, where the event was born, we organized a wonderful conference which saw the participation of excellent speakers of the caliber of Prof. Severino Persechino (La Sapienza University of Rome), Giovanni Paolino (San Raffaele Milan), Riccardo Pampena (San Raffaele Milano) and Francesco Ricci from the Dermopathic Institute of the Immaculate Conception in Rome, who also honored us with their sponsorship of the event. In the afternoon we donated 500 free dermatological screenings. A unique event in Italy».
A message of hope for the future
«I sincerely thank all the people, associations and organizations who have committed themselves to MelanomaDay on Saturday 6 May and have managed to organize free events, conferences and screenings. This was a first experience of national importance, but it must be the seed from which to give birth to a stable awareness activity at national level on melanoma which unfortunately is not a topic localized to the territories but must be addressed structurally also to smooth out the geographical differences in habits prevention and access to treatment”.
Who is Gianluca Pistore
iO Woman © REPRODUCTION RESERVED