#IBDhasnoage

As most of our readers know, New Zealand has one of the highest rates of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in the world. World IBD Day, observed in over fifty countries, commemorates the five million people worldwide who live with these diseases, 20,000 of whom live in NZ.

This year’s IBD event at Parliament’s Grand Hall featured the unveiling of a video, produced by professional filmmaker, Michael Henriquez, in which patients across the age spectrum speak very candidly about what it is like to live with IBD. While their symptoms are the same, their challenges at different stages of their lives are very different. 

Please follow our YouTube Channel and view this video here.

We would like to thank the patients who are featured in the video.  Hannah, Pete and Charlotte. Thank you so much for sharing such an honest account of your journey with IBD so far.

To accompany the film, we also exhibited over 130 personal stories throughout the hall that New Zealanders with Crohn’s and colitis shared to convey the enormous impact these diseases have on their lives.

These quotes were amazing. We are in the process of compiling these quotes in a soon-to-be released publication.

The event was hosted by Brooke Van Velden, MP, who gave a compelling speech about the IBD patients she has had the privilege to meet and the impact that they have made on her, as the ACT Health spokesperson. 

The final word of the video is "There are new medications that offer hope.  We need these in New Zealand".  We hope that this event raises awareness within Parliament and that we will see more funding for medications and support of our community.

Thank you to AbbVie Limited and Pelorus Trust whose generous grants supported the event and made production of the video possible.