Ambassador
and Mrs. Simonyi hosted a reception in their home with the American Heart
Association and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., to raise awareness of
heart diseases and stroke, the number one killers both in Hungary and the
United States.
In
his speech, the Ambassador said that one of the priorities of the Embassy
is to foster relations and cooperation in the field of healthcare between
Hungary and the U.S. He underlined the important role NGOs play in raising
awareness of common diseases, such as cancer or stroke, and rare ones like
pulmonary hypertension.
Elizabeth
Nabel, Director of the Clinical Research Programs at the National Heart,
Lung and Blood Institute, spoke about the necessity of global action to
fight these diseases. She said she counted on the Hungarian experience in
the field and is ready to join forces with Hungary to "win this
battle."
Other
speakers of the evening were Hiromi Yoshikawa, President & CEO of
Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., sponsor of the reception, and Mark
Turco, Chairman of the 2006 Heart Gala Medical Committee.
One
of the distinguished guests of the evening was Richard Jonas, Chief of
Cardiovascular Surgery and Co-Director of the Children's Heart Institute,
who successfully performed a heart surgery last year on a Hungarian girl,
Juditka Sallai.
The
honorary guest of the evening was Charity Tilleman-Dick, who had studied
voice in Budapest and had been diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension
during her stay in Hungary a year ago. The Embassy of Hungary attaches
great importance to raising awareness of the illness in close cooperation
with the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA)
whose President and CEO, Rino Aldrighetti, also attended the event. Ms.
Tilleman-Dick's brief song recital was one of the highlights of the
evening.
Ambassador Simonyi, Elizabeth Nabel, and Hiromi
Yoshikawa
Mark Turco, Chairman of the 2006 Heart Gala Medical
Committee, and Ambassador Simonyi
Ambassador and Mrs. Simonyi with Richard Jonas, Chief
of Cardiovascular Surgery and Co-Director of the Children's Heart
Institute, and wife
Ambassador Simonyi, Hideko Yoshikawa, Náda Simonyi,
Keith Horvath, and Hiromi Yoshikawa
Charity Tilleman-Dick entertained guests
