ROME (ITALPRESS) – From the discomfort of today’s adolescents to the fragility and dysfunctional relationships in our society, from mental health to the many daily or life challenges that a rare disease or a course of treatment represents for a person, a family, a community. Many strong themes were highlighted by the twelfth edition of the Angelo Zanibelli Literary Prize “The Word that Cures,” whose award ceremony was held last night in the splendid setting of the French Embassy in Rome.The prize has distinguished itself for years for its commitment to strongly bringing out storytelling as a therapeutic and social awareness tool, emphasizing the importance of personal experiences in dealing with illness. Through the award-winning works, it aims to give voice to those who face complex challenges, valuing the resilience and courage of those who transform their experiences into a powerful life story, a message that can be shared. After so many years, it continues to offer a prestigious stage to stories of care and health, highlighting the paths, experiences and emotions of so many patients and caregivers.Chairing the jury was, once again this year, Gianni Letta, flanked by an influential group of representatives from the worlds of politics, culture, health care and information, with the participation of the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, as an honored member. The jury had the task of reviewing the many works in the competition, also decreeing the winner of the coveted ‘Unpublished’ category and also awarding some special prizes that have gained particular prestige and visibility over the years. “For us at Sanofi, the The Curing Word Award is much more than just a literary competition. It is a concrete and tangible example of our constant and ongoing commitment to the side of patients, those who support them and those who represent their needs. The desire to listen to and understand needs, to enhance and pool the path of diagnosis and treatment, is at the heart of everything we do every day,” says Marcello Cattani, president and CEO of Sanofi Italy and Malta. “In fact, having a positive impact and improving the lives of those living with a disease is our daily mission. Through our work we promote an inclusive and accessible culture of health, seeking to contribute to meaningful change in the lives of citizens and embracing the concept of health as a pillar of our country’s human, social and economic development. “For the Fiction category, Francesca Lagatta’s “Crystal Lives” (ed. Rubbettino) won. A unique and symbiotic bond between a mother and her child who turns out to be ill with acrenoleucodystrophy that draws the reader into a world steeped in loneliness, pain, and boundless love that disintegrates the walls of time and space. For the non-fiction category awarded “Love Lessons for a Son” by Stefano Rossi (ed. Feltrinelli). A necessary endowment to give our children a solid and loving way out of the 16 labyrinths in which, more frequently than we adults imagine, the adolescent soul gets lost.For the Illustrated category, the prize went to “The Monster that Lives Inside Mom” by Nicolò Muggianu (ed. Dream Factory). The book dedicated to all children who live with a parent who suffers from depression or another form of psychological suffering that has negatively affected their relationship, with those who have experienced a family member who committed suicide or attempted to do so.The unpublished “The Memory of the Heart” by Marilù S. Manzini will be published by Piemme publisher. A novel that has the introspective depth of an essay. The author traces twenty-eight days inside the darkness of the psyche, in an addiction treatment clinic, in search of salvation. The lives of people seeking soul rehabilitation who bear the marks of the battles they have fought. Won or lost these are, the important thing for all of them is always and only to get back up from the ground.Three special mentions awarded by the Jury. To “Una stagione in più” by Elena Lugli, Emilia Li Gotti, Ilaria Orzali (ed. Lapis), a book that was created for children and for those who want to tell young children what it means to go through a season of care, and to do so with confidence: losing hair, yes, but to have new hair and to go back outside to play at the first ray of sunshine.To “The Care of the Future. Vaccines from infections to challenging cancer” by Guido Forni, Alberto Mantovani, Lorenzo Moretta, Giorgio Parisi, and Giovanni Rezza (ed. Baldini & Castoldi). The compelling challenge of science, which is being worked on in Italy and around the world, that may have decisive effects on global health.A “The night has stopped being scary” by Giacomo Perini (ed. Santelli) The journey of growth through illness that alternates chronicle and reflections with visionary pages. A story of vital stubbornness and resilience, which speaks to everyone, giving us back the portrait of a young man in love with the normality of life and grateful for its gifts.The jury also awarded the “Person of the Year” prize to Professor Alberto Mantovani for his constant commitment to research in immunology possible future therapeutic solution to diseases. With his studies up to the identification of innate immunity, he is now considered a reference figure who has written with his group of Italian researchers a fundamental page of modern medicine. The award was presented by Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci, an honored member of the jury.The “The Word that Cures” award, given each year to a patient association for its communication and dissemination activities on its reference pathology and related issues. This year, the jury awarded AISM for the PortrAIts project, a series of 12 images and portraits on display, created thanks to an Artificial Intelligence program that, together with communication professionals, reworked the stories and words of people with multiple sclerosis, generating surprising images, different from the visible reality that also inspired them and going on to creatively reveal even those aspects of life with the disease that would otherwise remain uncommunicable and incomprehensible to those who do not live them directly on their skin.The prize “The Value of Public-Private Partnership,” an award expressly aimed at young recent graduates that aims to assess students’ analytical thinking, investigative and in-depth skills, calling on them to produce a paper on this theme was awarded to young professional in Public Affairs Vjola Brahushi, 26, who will be placed as an intern in the Public Affairs Department of Sanofi Italy and will collaborate with a company Tutor on projects with national and regional institutions.
– Sanofi press office photo –
(ITALPRESS).
