israel Association for Crohn's and Colitis Patients (R.A.)

CCFI is a israel national charitable organization dedicated to providing support, information and education to patients, families and caregivers, the public, organizations, authorities and medical professionals within Israel, on Inflammatory Bowl Diseases (IBD) – Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Our goals:• Empower patients, families and the medical professionals • Demystify the diseases  • Normalize realities surrounding the diseases • Promote rights and avoid discrimination • Make life more livable Our mission:We support, advocate, educate, empower and promote connectedness for people affected by Inflammatory Bowel Disease, as well as those involved in the care, treatment and mitigation. CCFI and IBD in Israel:• CCFI established in 1994 by a group of dedicated parents. today the assoitation is situated in tel aviv offices.  • Supervised by the Israeli Corporations Authority • Estimated 70K IBD patients in Israel among them thousands of children • There are five centers of IBD excellence in Israel. CCFI continuously collaborates with these centers and with clinics in the periphery  (Pop. 10 million) We focus on:• Distributing reliable INFORMATION • Raising AWARENESS • EDUCATING patients, family, the medical community and the general public • Promoting WELL-BEING •  ADVOCATING patient RIGHTS vis-à vis authorities, educational institutions and the workplace • Improving QUALITY OF LIFE for patients and families • Supporting RESEARCH initiatives Our main activities are:• Providing support: • Hot line– Operates every day, serving everyone on line manged bt voulnteres and proffesional  staff members . • Organizing support and information gatherings for families • Providing financial aid for purchasing medications • Providing access to experts on patient rights issues • Educating: • Our new website is continuously expanding and improving to provide meaningful, reliable and undated information htpp;/ www.ccfi.co.il  • Arranging patient and medical staff conferences • Collaborating with medical centers (lectures, support groups) • Producing and distributing brochures • Producing CCFI Magazine (Tmichon) – a self-published periodical • Promoting Quality of Life: • Special events • Challenging trips for family fun • Children’s summer camp in collaboration with Kfar Nahar Hayarden http://www.jrv.org.il/eng_home.htm • Organizing webinars that provide information and promote sharing of information and experiences • Keeping IBD issues in the media by: • Being the “go to” resource on IBD • Promoting media focus especially around International IBD Day • Advocating for patients rights: • Insurance: Social Security (Bituach Leumi), National Health Insurance (Kupot Cholim), private insurance companies