TIRANA, APRIL 9, 2010     The Albanian Pediatrics Association, in collaboration with the J Project and with the support of USAID, held today the annual Conference on Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases. 

Primary immunodeficiency diseases are congenital diseases manifested at an early age and, if diagnosed late, can cause severe or fatal infections in children.  The number of reported cases of primary immunodeficiency diseases in Albania is rare and this conference hopes to raise the awareness of pediatricians with regard to the existence of such diseases, help improve diagnoses, and establish a national database. 

The J project, a project launch in Central and Eastern Europe in 2004 with the support of the Jeffrey Modell Foundation, seeks to discover the cause of primary immunodeficiency diseases and raise awareness and education on primary immunodeficiency diseases. To date 27 conferences have been held worldwide on this issue. This was the first held in Albania. 

Prominent physicians attended the conference, including Prof. Lazlo Marodi from Hungary, Dr.Ismail Reisli from Turkey, as well as pediatricians and family doctors from Albania and Kosovo. 

USAID has been the main supporter of several of the recent conferences held by the Albanian Pediatrics Association, provided funding to draft of the pediatrics protocol’s publication, as well as, funding of several studies conducted in the field of public health. 

Albanian Pediatric Association
Dr. Gjeorgjina Kuli-Lito, President
Tel/fax: 04 2 347430
Mobile: 0682164577
E mail: gkuli_lito@hotmail.com