Eugenio La Mesa's Blog on Social Business

Boehringer Ingelheim, Ashoka global partner of “Making more health”, supports Cure Thalassemia

Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the main pharmaceutical companies in the world, which is also global partner of Ashoka in the “Making more health” project to support social entrepreneurs in the health-care sector, has decided to sustain Cure Thalassemia, with a donation.

I heartily thank Boehringer Ingelheim for their trust in the innovative model of Cure Thalassemia, and also in the people involved in the project, starting with the co-founder and scientific director Dr. Pietro Sodani.

We are studying other joint cooperations for the future.

Google gives an AdWords Grant to Cure Thalassemia

Google has given an AdWords Grant to Cure Thalassemia, with 10,000 USD per month of free ads on Google.

We will use it raise the awareness fo the BMT-Bone Marrow Transplantation (so far the only cure available) and the free advice of Dr. Pietro Sodani (co-founder and scientific coordinator).

Thanks a lot to Google for this opportunity, and to my friend Claudio Zamboni for his invaluable and passionate help.

 

Agenda of my third trip to India for Cure Thalassemia

In October 2010 I did my first trip to India for Cure Thalassemia; in July 2011 the second one.

In a few days I'll go to Bangalore with Pietro Sodani and Stav Melides. 
We will discuss with  Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital and the Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Center the status of the BMT project both in Hyderabad and in Bangalore, including the possibility to start doing BMT from Haplomather; a joint research project on BMT and a thalassemia excellence check-up center.

 26 November 2011 Saturday

02.00 AM    Landing at Bangalore Airport 
05.00 AM    Arriving at the Hotel
09.30 AM    Meeting with the management of the Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital and the Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Center

 2.00 PM     Meeting with patients
 8.00 PM     Pietro Sodani lecture on Bone Marrow Transpltantation in Thalassemia at the Bangalore hematologist association

 27 November 2011 Sunday

 3.30 AM     Fligth from Bangalore to Rome

75 FAQ on BMT in the Cure Thalassemia site

As I have already written, Pietro Sodani (Cure Thalassemia co-founder and scientific coordinator) gives his free advice via email to patients from all over the world. In the first months he has replied to about 100 people, and so we have decided to create a comprehensive Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) page on Bone Marrow Transplantation from identical donor and from haploidentical mother.

We have about 75 FAQs, written by Dr. Sodani and me, and we will update them regularly.

I'm confident that these FAQs will help thalassemia patients, parents and doctors to know many useful information about BMT, so they have all the facts to take a decision.

Cure Thalassemia free advice on BMT:100 emails from 16 countries from all continents

Since June 2011, Dr. Pietro Sodani (Cure Thalassemia co-founder and scientific coordinator,who has done more than 400 BMTs with Prof. Lucarelli,the inventor of BMT for thalassemia) gives his free professional advice via email to tell patients if they can have a Bone Marrow Transplantation(BMT) to become thalassemia free,and what the results might be.

Since then he has replied to 100 patients, parents and doctors from 16 countries in all continents:
Australia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, India, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Pakistan, Spain, Sri Lanka, UEA, UK and USA.

We are proud of what he is doing and he will keep answering questions in the next months. 

Cure Thalassemia website has 1K visitors from 67 countries

We have launched the Cure Thalassemia web site in June, and since then we have add:

• 1,050 visitors from 67 countries
• 1,630 visits 
• 4,450 page views

What is interesting is that the site has just a few pages about the BMT (from matched identical donor and also mismatch haploidentical from the mother) and our partnership with the Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital of Dr. Devi Shetty in India; so far our online marketing budget is zero, this is just online word of mouth.

These preliminary results are very encouraging, there are thousands of thalassemia patients and parents from all over the world who wants to know more about the cure of thalassemia.

I'll go to Bulgaria at the thalassaemia conference for patients and parents

I'll spend 2 days at the 4th European symposium on rare anaemias and the 3rd Bulgarian national thalassaemia conference for patients and parents, in Sofia on November 19-20 2011.

I'll go with my friend Stav Melides, a parent of a Thalassemia patient, Cure Thalassemia international liaison officer and former TIF director.

I'll meet patients, parents and doctors from Europe and the Middle-East, to further improve my knowledge of the needs of the thalassemia community.

Citizens for Social Business, The Greenpeace of social entrepreneurship

As I already wrote, I'm the italian coordinator of Citizens for Social Business.

We have now the first press relase: The Greenpeace of social entrepreneurship.

There are about 260 members now, and within Asia, there are representatives in Singapore, Malaysia, India, and Japan. 

Congrats to the Founder and International Coordinator Vincent Perrier-Trudov.

Citizens for Social Business, I'm the Italian coordinator

Citizens for Social Business has been created the 28th of june 2011 in Dhaka, during the World Social Business Day. Its Founder and International Coordinator, Vincent Perrier-Trudov, has been charged by Pr. Yunus to lead the development of that association all around the world.
They asked me to be the coordinator for Italy, togheter with Samantha Caccamo, and I have accepted with pleasure.

Thanks to Prof. Yunus and Vincent for this opportunity.

The purpose of that association is to promote the concept of Social Business, and to push for its growth.

Two concrete requests are posed:
- to create in every country a legal status for social entreprises who want to be established as social businesses
- to reserve 5% of the international aid for development to social businesses projects

A Social Business Friendly Corporation Club will be created, which will gather all private companies that will dedicate 5% of their advertising/PR/branding budgets to Social Business projects, as a part of their CSR policy.

Every good will is accepted, everyone can do his part, even if it's not much! You are all most welcomed!

New Cure Thalassemia logo

The new Cure Thalassemia logo. Thanks to Cristiana Giovannini.