At the convention, patients and doctors from eighteen participating countries signed "The Declaration of Yokohama 2000".
The Convention opened with words from Prof. Shigeaki Ohno, a Japanese ophthalmologist and a world expert on Behcet's disease, who thought and organised the convention with the help of Prof. Tomomi Nishida, an ophthalmologist and daughter to a father suffering total blindness due to Behcet's disease.
The Opening Session went on with Prof. Nishida, Mr. Masato Mugitani (of the Japanese Ministry of Health) and Mr. Mitsuo Ishii (chairman of Japan's Behcet Disease Foundation), and was followed immediately by Session One, where different doctors talked about the disease from their point of view.
During Session One, Prof. Ohno talked about eye problems, Prof. Hiroko Miura of Japan talked about dentistry and mouth hygiene, Dr. Wafa Madanat talked about The mosaic of Behcet and her research in Jordan, Dr. Mitsuhiro Takeno (a Japanese expert on autoimmune disease) read the absent Dr. Sakane's talk about "special Behcet" (Vascular, GI and CNS), and Dr. Susan Legacy (a US psychologist) told of chronic fatigue and depression in autoimmune diseases and BD (accompanied by her patient, Ms. Bettina Bailey).
Session Two comprised patients' talks about their life with Behcet's. Mr. Kevin Chow of H.K., China, shared a recipe for a Chinese medicine which helps him, Mr. Rifaat El-Groudy of Egypt told of his life story, followed by Mr. Kazuo Inoue of Japan. Mr. Pil-Soo Kim of Korea introduced his new internet site for Koreans and told of the disease in his family, while Ms. Atsuko Nishigami of Japan introduced the Osaka branch of Japan's Behcet's Disease Foundation and their internet site. After the life story of Ms. Anelia Kostadinova Vassileva of Bulgaria, and that of Ms. Nishiko Wakayama of Japan, we heard of the social side of BD from Mr. A (the name is withheld to protect his privacy) of Turkey, and more from Mr. Tariq Abu-Aisha of Saudi-Arabia. Tal Kinnersly (yours truly, an Israeli living in Japan) offered food for thought (particularly about diagnosis), Mr. Mhammed Sadieh of Syria told shortly of his depression due to BD, and Ms. Yumiko Takahashi of Japan told of her problems with pregnancy and labour. Mr. Jamal Husain Hasan Al-Tamimi of Jordan told his disease history and introduced The Friends of BD Patients Society - Jordan and their internet site (currently out of order), Mr. Kenjiro Yamazaki of Japan talked briefly of his experience, and Ms. Helen Lane of the UK let us in on her ongoing struggle with her GP. Ms. Sakai Ruri of Japan told us of a song she wrote and recorded called "six footprints" dedicated to her guide-dog, and Ms. Hurel Biigee of Mongolia told us of her disease history. We also heard the story of Mr. Nilton Naoki Suzuki- a Brazilian of Japanese descent- who claims to have contracted Behcet's during his short stay in Japan and strongly recommends his mother's Green Soup, and the story of Mr. Minoru Nishida of Japan- a founder of the convention and Prof. Nishida's father.
In Section Three the talks focused on welfare. Mr. Ryou Andou of Japan showered us with statistics on disabilities in his country, and explained his ideas for improving the Japanese welfare system in great length. Ms. Benvinda Marques Pires Ferreira and and Mr. Alvares Lopes, both of Portugal, told of their experience and of BD and the health-care system in their country. Mr. Ahmad Hassantash of Iran changed his talk at the last minute, and told of the welfare system in Iran, his ideas for improving it and the medical situation in his country, and of his experience being both MD (cardiac surgeon) and BD. Dr. Ahmad Khalil (ophthalmologist) of Egypt, changed his talk, too, and captured our hearts with an honest confession about learning from us all about Behcet's from the patients' view, and his moving promise to care more for his patients in future. Dr. Maria Doneva of Bulgaria talked of BD and rehabilitation centres in her country, while Ms. Stephanie Dolsky of Canada presented the situation in her country and introduced a new internet site (currently inoperable) she built for Canadian patients and doctors. Dr. Galina Dimitrova (ophthalmologist) of Macedonia, currently a PhD candidate in Japan, told about her country, and Mr. Shin Iguchi talked about aging and pension in Japan in great length.
Session Four explained the Behcet's situation in different countries. Mr. Takano Kikuji of Japan represented the Hokkaido (northern island) branch of Japan's Behcet's Disease Foundation, Ms. Hilda Harting of the US represented the ABDA (American Behcet's Disease Association), Mr. Barrie Seaman of the UK represented the British Behcet's Syndrome Society, and Mr. Sugio Omoto represented the Osaka branch of Japan's Behcet's Disease Foundation. Dr. Stefano Subioli (internal medicine) of Italy told us of a patient who is also a doctor and therefore knows what it is like from both sides (later he told us the patient was himself), and complained about the unavailability of information to the public. Mr. Cetin Ezber of Turkey represented Turkey's Behcet society, and told of their activities and internet site (currently out of order) and of his personal experience with the disease. Session Four came to an end with the talk of Mr. Masaru Yoshida of Japan, representing the Tokyo branch (in Teikyo University hospital) of Japan's Behcet's Disease Foundation.
And so, with Dr. Nishida closing the session, we got to the reading of "The Declaration of Yokohama 2000" singed a day earlier at a business-meeting between the morning and the afternoon talks. The Declaration was read by Mr. Barry Seaman of the UK and Mr. Minoru Nishida of Japan. Prof' Ohno closed the convention, and invited all participants to an international party that evening, and a tour around Kamakura (an ancient Japanese capital) and Yokohama the next day.
Cultural events were held every evening and every lunch-break, and included a vocal recital, a shamisen (a three string traditional Japanese instrument), a tea-ceremony demonstration and an origami (the art of paper-folding) class. The international party saw patients perform their national songs, music and dance, and ended in the exciting promise of Myrah Kay, an American/Japanese singer (who was there as an assistant to the filming crew) to hold a charity concert for BD patients and work to increase public awareness towards the disease. But for most participants the dining-room and lobby made the best meeting-place, where we could all sit together, make friends and talk about anything (mainly BD) and learn more than any other way. We all hoped to have more such time during the next convention.
Some of the participants (mostly doctors) went on to Seoul, to the 9th doctor's conference of BD.
The second convention took place in Berlin on 27th-29th June 2002, alongside the 10th doctor's conference. Both were held in the same building with the coordination of Prof. Zouboulis, with few of the events held jointly. Unfortunately, the second event was much smaller and was not open to all patients. For details about other conferences please click here.
Behcet-Israel-Group wishes to thank Prof. Ohno, Prof. Nishida and all those who made the convention possible and took part in it, for their wonderful work and for improving our life as BD patients.
[For more details about the convention contact us]