Service Clubs in Action for Spina bifida
“Each one of us can make a difference. Together we make change”
23 February 2025 │ Today, on Rotary’s 120th anniversary, we are happy to launch the publication ‘Service Clubs in Action for Spina Bifida: Prevention and Care’. This publication aims to explore our common vision of a fruitful future collaboration, building on the already existing strong partnerships between Service Clubs and people with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (SBH) and their families that go back decades.
Service clubs and umbrella organisations, such as IF and its members, have a lot in common due to their strong connections to their communities, the common values and goals, as well as similarities in their organisational structures. Our advocacy for policies to reduce the prevalence of Neural Tube Defects (NTDs) worldwide, and for actions to improve the quality of life of persons affected by SBH and their families, correspond with the areas of focus of many service clubs to improve maternal and child health.
IF and service club partnerships bring together the SBH community and the perspective of persons with lived experiences of SBH to charitable activities undertaken by service clubs on the local, regional and international level. This new publication features collaborative project examples from Colombia, as well as from Malaysia, where the 30th International Conference ‘Bridging the healthcare and prevention gaps – A multidisciplinary team approach with the community at heart’ was organised in October 2024 by SIBIAM in collaboration with IF and with Rotary’s support. The conference resulted in a historic Kuala Lumpur Declaration that is open for co-signatures.
IF is committed to play a key role in future collaborations with service clubs, promoting awareness of SBH and how its prevalence can be reduced without inadvertently stigmatising the SBH community, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD).
To strengthen coordination between service clubs, IF welcomes learning more about the work currently being done in support of its global SBH community.
