Diana Hains Meltzer Abramsky
1915 – 2000

• I wish for earlier diagnosis and treatment of thyroid gland malfunction.
• I wish for improved doctor/patient communication vis-à-vis understanding thyroid disease and treatment.
• I wish for more thyroid clinics across Canada where, without referrals, people could have their symptoms evaluated by thyroid specialists.
• I wish hypothyroid screening, which has helped prevent mental retardation in infants, would be expanded to include adolescents and adults in high risk cases.
• I wish thyroid research were not so seriously underfunded; that it would become a more visible target for private donations and bequests, as well as corporate and government funding.
• I wish the cost effectiveness of government-sponsored thyroid education update programs, for health care professionals, would be realized.
• I wish for a continuation of national media coverage of the Foundation’s thyroid awareness programs, which inform the public-at-large about serious medical problems that may result from an untreated, malfunctioning thyroid gland.
• I wish for talented leaders and members, at the Chapter level, to continue promoting the Foundation as a recognized source of thyroid information, for all age groups and all segments of society.
• I wish for dynamic leaders and members, who will inspire the public-at-large (lay and professional) to become thyroid conscious; to “think thyroid research!” and “support thyroid research!”
• I wish for caring, dedicated leadership in our growing network of Chapters, to continue to accept new tasks and challenges, with the same warmth towards thyroid patients, and with the same heart and soul of our early days.
• I wish for a world Thyroid Foundation with Chapters in every corner of the globe, where the universal problems of thyroid patients may be addressed.