The first International Festival of Pediatric Patients’ will be held at the Children’s Medical Center of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences.
All children and teenagers, under the age of 18, who suffer from a chronic disease or have been hospitalized at least once due to acute illnesses, are eligible to take part in the event, IRNA reported.
It will feature 200 selected paintings on Children’s Day, October 8, said Nima Rezaei, festival director.
Rezaei said the event “is to help create self-confidence in young sick patients and to improve the mental state of children struggling to cope with devastating illnesses.”
American, German, Polish, Russian, Portuguese, Serbian, Egyptian, French and Indian children have shown interest to attend the festival and the secretariat has received over 100 paintings, of which 30 are from foreign participants, he said.
The festival has been organized by the Health and Art Group, an independent organization sponsored by artists, athletes and other benefactors.
A jury will select the top ten paintings for awards and they will be published in a book.
Rezaei is assistant professor of immunology and chief executive of the Children’s Medical Center Hospital, the Pediatrics Center of Excellence in Iran as well as deputy president of the Research Center for Immunodeficiencies.
He has presented 300 lectures, posters in congresses and meetings, has published more than 370 articles in international scientific journals and a number of textbooks in the field of clinical immunology in the last decade.
