IETT and DMD Families Association held a joint event

DMD disease, which occurs around the age of five, is manifested by the loss of muscles in later years. Children are forced to use wheelchairs at the age of 10-12. At the age of 20, vital difficulties arise. In order to draw attention to this relentless disease, IETT and DMD Families Association signed a joint event.

DMD Families Association and IETT General Directorate organized an event in Tunnel Square to raise awareness about DMD disease. IETT employees also supported the event, which was organized with the participation of families and children struggling with the disease.

Speaking on behalf of IETT General Directorate, IETT Customer Services and Corporate Communications Department Cevdet Gungor said that IETT has been providing public transportation services to Istanbul residents for 148 years and that it supports social responsibility projects as well. Güngör said, “Our children with DMD cannot walk or run like other children and do not breathe properly during the stages of the disease. Our muscular children, whose muscles and lives melt with time, want to dream about their future. ”

The members of the association who attended the event with their children with DMD had demands from both the authorities and the citizens.

President of the DMD Families Association Gülbahar Bekiroğlu, who pointed out that there are more than one thousand 5 children struggling with the same disease throughout the country, said in his speech: aşkın More than 5000 children in our country are fighting the problems created by this disease.

Bekiroğlu stated that they had difficulty in finding specialist doctors who know DMD in hospitals. Pointing out that the number of multidisciplinary muscle disease centers should be increased, Bekiroğlu said, için We have to go to cities where there are muscle disease centers such as Antalya and İzmir in order to have routine controls of our children who cannot stand long journeys. If the number of muscle disease centers is increased, we will be able to get more qualified health care. We will be able to access the developing treatments more easily. We know that all the problems we face will be solved with social awareness. As the DMD Families Association, we would like to thank the General Directorate of IETT Enterprises for their support. ”

On a sunny winter day, the event was held with the participation of children with DMD. Balloons and cotton candy with children who came to enjoy the last Nostalgic Tram took a tour of Istiklal Street.

What is DMD?

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy DMD; It is a progressive and genetic muscle disease that occurs at the age of three to five years. Due to the mutation in the dystrophin gene in Duchenne patients, the dystrophin protein that ensures the integrity of the muscles cannot be synthesized. The disease manifests itself in children with excessive fatigue, frequent falls, and difficulties when climbing uphill. Duchenne is a disease usually targeted at boys. While the incidence in boys is one in 3.500, the incidence in girls is one in 50 million. Children in wheelchairs from the age of 10 are exposed to vital effects, particularly respiration, at the age of 20. There is no known cure for the disease yet.