27 march

Hundreds of mauve balloons released into sky in central Chisinau

The Mauve Day was marked in Chisinau to sensitize people to the situation of persons suffering from epilepsy. The Association for Supporting Children with Special Needs of Moldova, in partnership with Star of Hope Romania and Sweden, staged a flashmob meeting in the Great National Assembly Square of Chisinau, setting free mauve balloons, mauve being the international color for epilepsy.

Maine Olofsson, vice president of Star of Hope Foundation Sweden, said that unfortunately, the persons suffering from epilepsy meet with many communication barriers. They are excluded from the social group so as not to make the rest of the group responsible in case of an epileptic fit. The parents of children suffering from epilepsy are also discriminated.

Doctor Victoria Sopruna, who is the mother of a six-year-old girl suffering from epilepsy, has told IPN’s reporter that the social groups do not have reasons for concern when they have a person suffering from epilepsy among them. “They didn’t want to enroll my daughter at the kindergarten when I told them that she is epileptic. Afterward, they accepted her, after associations intervened. I’m a doctor and can say that epileptics pose no threats. When they have a fit, they mustn’t be touched. They recover themselves and remember nothing,” she stated.

In Moldova, epilepsy was included in the list of neurological diseases in 2010. The epileptics receive treatment and are hospitalized, if necessary. These persons spend by 1,600 lei a month on medicines. Parent Natalia Robu said a pack of drugs for her epileptic daughter costs 1,400 lei, while the invalidity pension for the second deficiency degree is only 250 lei.
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