Follow the AMD Awareness bus through Germany!
History of the tours
The combined European Tandem and AMD bus tours in 2006 build upon a longstanding tradition of earlier European-wide bicycle tandem tours of Pro Retina. The first European tandem tour (ETT) which was organised together with Retina France, started in 1995 from the European Parliament (EP) in Strasburg and ended at the EP in Brussels. All the following tandem tours started from Berlin and ended in the capital of another EU member state, like Berlin-London in 1999, Berlin-Paris 2001 and Berlin Budapest in 2003.
In the meantime these tandem tours have become a widely accepted institution, bringing awareness of retinal degenerative diseases to the public in Germany and to neighboring European countries.
The idea of combining the tandem tour with an AMD Bus Tour came up because the bus offered the additional advantage of carrying equipment for eye tests, low vision aids and AMD information material to the bus stops in the urban centres.
Since in 2005 Pro Retina had no experience in the organization and management of such a complex bus tour, the route was restricted to Germany, starting from Berlin and going via Hanover, Münster, Bonn, Frankfurt to Stuttgart. This year, due to the success in 2005, the AMD bus tour will be combined with the tandem tour and go from Berlin via Leipzig, Fulda. Stuttgart, Munich, to Zurich, Switzerland - a route of altogether 1.500 kilometers.
Major goals
The major campaign goals of the combined tandem and bus tour in 2006 are:
- to raise awareness about age-related Macular degeneration (AMD) as a major and increasing public health problem
- to inform about the impact of AMD and retinal degenerative diseases on the quality of life of affected families
- to inform about options for early diagnosis, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation
- to mobilize and increase awareness for the activities of local patient support groups
Given the high political and societal interest in the world soccer championship in Germany, two additional political goals are outstanding:
- to bring to the public mind the tour motto "fair play for a fair society", which relates to the symbol of the sports tandem as a social tandem, i.e. solidarity between sighted pilot and visually impaired escort.
- to raise awareness for the world cup soccer games in Germany
The target audience for the ETT and the bus tour are:
- First and foremost, the general public and the local media in the urban communities covered by the tandem and bus tours; this audience is of particular importance since the AMDAI survey report in 2005 has shown, that awareness of AMD in the general population is still below 15% compared to 30% in the USA.
- Also local politicians, retinal specialists and opinion-leaders are targeted to promote a more cooperative and friendly environment for the activities of Pro Retina and other patient organizations of blind and visually impaired persons.
How do we implement the goals and how do we get the target groups involved?
We put together a "public awareness package" with the following six components:
- HIGH LEVEL PATRONAGE
To attract the attention of the media, this year the "first lady", the wife of the president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mrs. Eva Luise Köhler, is patroness of the combined tandem and bus tour. - APPEALING MULTIFUNCTIONAL BUS OUTFIT
The outer appearance of the AMD bus is designed to attract the public and the media, with its trendy motto and its colorful styling. The interior of the double decker bus represents the heart of the tour and provides:- Seats for patients and relatives
- Optical and ophthalmic eye test equipment
- Computers with internet access, screen reader, zoomtest and Braille … to demonstrate communication options of persons affected by visual impairment and blindness.
- AMD information material like brochures, leaflets, press announcements, posters etc.
- This year the bus will also carry - information related to the "little sisters and brothers" of AMD, i.e. the rare forms of juvenile macular degeneration, like Morbus Stargardt, Best disease and cone rod dystrophy
- ON-SITE STREET PRESENTATIONS AND ENTERTAINMENT
- To attract the public frequently visited urban places are selected for locating the bus
- Local patient representatives invite bye-passers to enter the bus, they talk to journalists, distribute brochures, make short speeches. li>Entertainment events (e.g. blind gospel singer Corinna May, trumpeters and musical bands) attract bye-passers to remain on-site.
- PUBLIC RECEPTION OF TANDEM BICYCLISTS
In all cities the performance of tandem cyclists is acknowledged by a town hall reception party with welcome speeches by the mayor and prominent local opinion leaders followed by social events, interviews with media representatives. The tour participants will wear t-shirts with logos of their sponsors, like Daimler Chrysler, Pfizer, AMD Alliance) and also individual politicians and soccer stars like Franz Beckenbauer, Angela Merkel etc. Each of the 38 tandems this year will represent one national soccer team participating in the world cup. - INTERNET COVERAGE
The combined tandem and bus tour 2006 are covered by daily website updates produced by professional journalists featuring the most prominent tour events in text and pictures. - LOCAL HOT LINE "ASK YOUR DOCTOR"
Based on our experience in 2005 the 2006 bus tour will organize a medical hot line in each city en route in cooperation with a prominent local journal.
This journal will report about the ETT and AMD bus tour a few days prior to arrival in the city. On arrival of the tour the journal will inform its readers about related local events and location of the bus and about the option to dial a toll-free telephone number to get answers to their questions related to AMD. The call respondents are retinal specialists, clinicians, optometrists and representatives of Pro Retina - all located in rooms provided by the journal.
The tour will significantly contribute to the hands-on practical education of the general public about the impact of AMD, about the options for early diagnosis by eye tests, about prevention and treatment and about coping strategies.
Part of the income of the tour will serve to fund AMD research and awards for young scientists.
Based on our experience in 2005 the 2006 bus tour will organize a medical hot line in each city en route in cooperation with a prominent local journal.
This journal will report about the ETT and AMD bus tour a few days prior to arrival in the city. On arrival of the tour the journal will inform its readers about related local events and location of the bus and about the option to dial a toll-free telephone number to get answers to their questions related to AMD. The call respondents are retinal specialists, clinicians, optometrists and representatives of Pro Retina - all located in rooms provided by the journal.
The tour will significantly contribute to the hands-on practical education of the general public about the impact of AMD, about the options for early diagnosis by eye tests, about prevention and treatment and about coping strategies.
Part of the income of the tour will serve to fund AMD research and awards for young scientists.
The major success factor of our tour is the enthusiastic involvement of volunteers. These include patient group representatives, professionals providing eye tests and counseling services in the bus as well as the technical personnel, and the competence of the chief executive manager, Mr. Horst Schwerger, himself patient and professional cyclist.
Hence, we invite you to take part in the starting event of the bus tour at the town hall of the city of Berlin on June 2nd, 8 a.m.
German and English information with all details of the tour are available at the website: http://www.pro-retina.de/deu/topical/show.php?fetchme=2.
More information:
Horst Schwerger:
e-mail: horst.schwerger@t-online.de
Tel.: 0049-7158-68481
Rainald von Gizycki:
e-mail: rainald.vongizycki@charite.de
Tel.: 0049-6032-306690
