World Wide Charter for Action on Eating Disorders is launched!

Kitty Westin, President of the Anna Westin Foundation, has been working for the past year with an international task force to develop the “World Wide Charter for Action on Eating Disorders”; a document that is the beginning of a call to action for Governments, providers of healthcare and those who advocate for patients and families.

The task force has worked across 12 time zones, communicating by e-mail and teleconferencing. A web-based survey of people with eating disorders, their families, carers and eating disorder health professionals was undertaken between March and May 2006. 1,730 people from 46 countries submitted a response.

The survey helped highlight variations in the quality and accessibility of eating disorders programs and services around the world. It also made clear that there are basic, overarching principles which connect people affected by eating disorders, no matter where they live.

The Charter is based on the findings from the survey, and draws out the world wide principles as rights and expectations for people with eating disorders and their families. Its core value is that a partnership involving patients, their families and the healthcare team is imperative for any quality eating disorder service, or individual health care encounter.

The official launch of the Charter took place at the Academy for Eating Disorders 2006 International Conference on Eating Disorders in Barcelona Spain on June 7, 2006. Over 800 people from across the globe attended the launch and expressed their support of this important document. It is our intention to get over 1 million signatures within the next several months. It is hoped that the Charter will be used as a tool to assist people with eating disorders and their loved ones in identifying high quality, appropriate services and practices, and to guide them in challenging unhelpful, out-dated, and anti-therapeutic practices. It is also our hope that the Charter will provide service providers with the basic building blocks for quality program and service development.

To read the Charter, participate in the survey and/or sign the Charter go to the Academy for Eating Disorders website: www.aedweb.org .