Shire Announces 2014 Excellence in ADHD Patient Group Award Winners

Shire Announces 2014 Excellence in ADHD Patient Group Award Winners


Calendar
October 22, 2014

ADHD Hellas (Greece), ADHD Association (Denmark) and the Federation of Andalusian ADHD Supporting Organisations (FAHYDA) (Spain) selected by an international judging panel for outstanding projects supporting people affected by ADHD.

Zug, Switzerland – Friday 10 October, 2014 – Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPG) today announces the three winners of the 2014 Excellence in ADHD Patient Group Awards to coincide with World Mental Health Day. The Excellence in ADHD Patient Group Awards, developed, funded and organised by Shire, recognise exceptional advocacy campaigns aiming to improve the lives of those living with the disorder.

Following a selection process, the judges awarded an unrestricted grant of €10,000 to ADHD Hellas (Greece), ADHD Association (Denmark) and the Federation of Andalusian ADHD Supporting Organisations (FAHYDA) in recognition of their outstanding work during 2013 to support people affected by Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The three winning projects were those judged to be examples of best practice that have truly helped support people affected by ADHD:

  • Empowering Adults with ADHD - ADHD Hellas (Greece)
  • Wild and Quiet  - ADHD Association (Denmark)
  • ADHD Therapeutic Summer Camps - Federation of Andalusian ADHD Supporting Organisations (FAHYDA) (Spain)

Brooke Clarke, Global Head of Responsibility and Corporate Brand at Shire, said: “We received a number of exceptional entries, and we were impressed by the projects submitted. The three winners are all examples of creative and innovative activities that have a direct and positive impact on the lives of people affected by ADHD. We’re confident that the awarded grants will help these organisations to continue to provide much-needed support, and perhaps inspire others.”

“Despite progress in recent years, misconceptions about ADHD still exist,” said Juan Ángel Quirós Cantos, President at the Federation of Andalusian ADHD Supporting Organisations (FAHYDA). “At FAHYDA, we work tirelessly to support those living with the disorder in our community, organising family retreats, activities for teens and volunteer training. We are delighted that our therapeutic summer camp programme, which has helped so many young people, has been selected for this Award. On behalf of the Federation, I would like to thank the judges for supporting our work in this area, adding a special mention to our volunteers, without whom all this would not have been possible.”

Camilla Louise Lydiksen, Managing Director at the Danish ADHD Association, said: "We are delighted to have been selected as winners in the inaugural year of the Awards. While the grant is certainly appreciated to support our future work, it is the recognition of the judges that makes us most proud, and the effect of the campaign to schools in Denmark that is the most important.”

The winners were selected by an international judging panel including representatives from patient organisations, mental health advocates and experts in education: Audrey Craven, European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA); Rebecca Müller, Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks (GAMIAN) Europe; Sarah Shenow, MQ: Transforming Mental Health; and Brooke Clarke, Shire.

The Excellence in ADHD Patient Group Awards are part of Shire’s patient-centric approach that provides support to ADHD patients and their caregivers.

About ADHD

ADHD is a common neurobehavioural disorder in children and adolescents1,2 and is recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO)3. It is thought to affect just under 5% of children and adolescents in Europe1

For further information please contact:

Media

Audrey Abernathy  [email protected]
+1 484 595 2389

NOTES TO EDITORS

ADHD Hellas

The Pan-Hellenic Association of individuals with Attention Deficit/Hyperkinetic Disorder (ADHD Hellas) was established in 2009. It is a non-profit organisation comprised of:

  • Parents of children with ADHD
  • Adults with ADHD
  • Mental health care professionals, teachers, and other specialists that provide their experience and time voluntarily to achieve our aims

The main objective of ADHD Hellas is social, and its activities aim to contribute to the following:

  • To set up a network of support and coaching for people with ADHD and their families in Greece
  • To provide adequate information on the international scientific data pertaining to ADHD
  • To sensitise society and the state, so that the prejudice for ADHD is refuted
  • To serve as an advocate for appropriate public policies in response to the needs faced by people with ADHD
  • To strive for efficient solutions for the multimodal management of the symptoms presented by individuals with ADHD

www.adhdhellas.org

ADHD Association

The ADHD Association's purpose is to create understanding and actual improvement for children, youngsters and adults with ADHD in Denmark.

The principal body of the ADHD Association is the Congress, which meets every other year and selects the main board and the chair. In addition, the Association consists of 14 local divisions and an administrational unit. The Association counts about 7,000 members, but represents and works for everyone with ADHD in Denmark.

The activities of the ADHD Association include:

  • Providing information about ADHD to people with ADHD, their families and the professionals working with people with ADHD, as well as the general public
  • Developing projects and tools to support people living with ADHD, their families and professionals working in the area of ADHD
  • Influencing the policy agenda and debate about ADHD in the media

www.adhd.dk

Federation of Andalusian ADHD Supporting Organisations (FAHYDA)

The Federation of Andalusian ADHD Supporting Organisations (FAHYDA) is a non-profit organisation that was established in Seville on 18 February 2006. FAHYDA is dedicated to promoting research, collaborating in the fields of education, social care and science with centres, bodies and professionals dedicated to researching and raising awareness about ADHD.

In this regard, the Federation carries out the following activities:

  • Advising parents, professionals, associations and public and private institutions about ADHD
  • Promoting educational activities and exchanging projects, experiences and research
  • Working with public and private institutions on group studies and or/work to increase awareness of the difficulties caused by ADHD
  • Holding courses, seminars, congresses, conferences, workshops, etc. which contribute to disseminating the research in ADHD
  • Promoting associations for people living with ADHD and their families
  • Any other activity aimed at scientific, educational and social research on ADHD
  • Any other type of activities and objectives related to the protection and interests of people living with ADHD

FAHYDA was established in view of the high number of ADHD support groups that are being set up in Andalusia and the need for them to be able to share their concerns and channel their requests through one voice. Currently the Federation is made up of 15 associations that represent more than 2,000 families of people living with ADHD within the Autonomous Community.

fahyda.blogspot.co.uk

Shire

Shire enables people with life-altering conditions to lead better lives.

Our strategy is to focus on developing and marketing innovative specialty medicines to meet significant unmet patient needs.

We provide treatments in Neuroscience, Rare Diseases, Gastrointestinal, and Internal Medicine and we are developing treatments for symptomatic conditions treated by specialist physicians in other targeted therapeutic areas, such as Ophthalmology.

www.shire.com

References

  1. Polanczyk G, et al. The Worldwide Prevalence of ADHD: A Systematic Review and Metaregression Analysis. Am J Psych. 2007;164:942–948.
  2. Willcutt EG. The prevalence of DSM-IV attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a meta-analytic review. Neurotherapeutics 2012; 9: 490-499.
  3. International Classification of Diseases, 10th ed., (ICD-10). World Health Organization 2007:Chapter 5,F90. http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd10/browse/2010/en#/F90-F98