World Continence Week (WCW) is an annual initiative devised and managed by WFIPP, with the endorsement and support of the International Continence Society (ICS), European Association of Urology(EAU) and the Ibero-American Society of Neurourology and Urogynaecology (SINUG).
It is a global initiative intended to raise awareness of bladder & bowel issues, chronic pelvic pain, and other debilitating conditions that greatly impact the lives of patients, families, and carers. Our main themes for 2024 are Shared Decision Making, Incontinence and Mental Health, and Commitment to Collaboration in Continence Care (the 4 C’s Project).
WFIPP is arranging 2 webinars:
- Shared Decision Making (SDM) and the 4 C’s Project (Commitment to Collaboration in Continence Care): A webinar/roundtable with Eamonn Rogers (Urologist and Chair of the EAU Patients Office), Michael van Balken (Urologist and Vice-chair of the EAU Patient Office), Pedro Blasco (Urologist and President of SINUG), Jim Phillips (director of Center for empowering patients and communities CIC (CEmPaC)) and Lynne van Poelgeest (President of WFIPP). This webinar will be organized twice so as many people as possible across the globe can attend.
- Continence Thematic Innovation Ecosystem: A webinar organized together with ECHAlliance with prominent speakers from across the globe.
Clearly, the objective is to raise global awareness of such conditions and help remove stigmas and taboos via events, publications, press releases, and the like. This with a view to providing a reliable and easily accessible forum for those seeking information – patients, families, carers, healthcare professionals, institutions (scientific and academic) and industry, and of course all the patient advisory groups around the world.
And now it is your turn, either individually or via your various organizations, to get the message out loud and clear. The success of this global awareness-raising campaign really depends on a massive collaborative effort. WFIPP trusts you will use the toolkit to the full and asks you/your organization to hold as many events as possible to promote WCW24.
After all, bladder weakness alone (notwithstanding fecal incontinence) affects 1 in 3 women and 1 in 10 men and is more common than hay fever. So the message is simple: let’s get out there and ‘do something’ for the 400+ million to ensure the success of WCW24
Please share with WFIPP all your World Continence Week 2024 events, photographs, podcasts, videos, social media campaigns etc. in order to make one big collective image after WCW24.
#commitmenttocollaborationincontinencecare #WCW2024 #continencematters #supportincontinence
An Urge to Act
In 2023, IUGA signed the EU Manifesto: An Urge to Act during the Continence Health Summit in Brussels, Belgium. After the success of the Summit, and given that there will be a new European Parliament and Commission this 2024, a strategy is being developed to make the Urge to Act campaign a proper stakeholder network. Our ultimate objective: include Continence Health as part of the EU Health priorities, so it is recognised as a critical health issue. To support World Continence Week, we wanted to share some infographics illustrating some key information from the Socio-Economic report.
Want to Know More About Your Pelvic Floor Health?
Check out YourPelvicFloor.org for more information! This dedicated website brings together a wealth of health topics, publications, patient leaflets, patient stories, events, and other resources, all available for free in over 25+ languages. Both patients and practitioners have checked the information provided to ensure it is accurate and easy to understand.