Lights of Hope will be held again this year to mark World Lymphedema Day

'Behind every illuminated building stands a clear message to the state – we are now too many and too visible for you to keep turning a blind eye. It is time for chaotic care to give way to clear medical standards and accessible treatment,” the Bulgarian Lymphedema Association said.

The aim of the visual campaign is not simply to mark the date but to bring out of clinical and social isolation a severe chronic disease affecting around 200,000 Bulgarians. Lymphedema is a progressive chronic condition caused by damage or blockage in the lymphatic system, leading to severe and often disabling swelling of the limbs.

'When patients have access to timely complex decongestive therapy, serious complications, disability and millions of leva in unnecessary costs for the national health insurance fund can be avoided. Through ‘Lights of Hope’ we show that these patients exist and call for the political will to introduce a European standard of care in Bulgaria,” the association’s chair, Tsvetelina Miloslavova, told the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

Organisers are inviting people to support the campaign by photographing the illuminated buildings and sharing the images on social media using the hashtags #LightsOfHope and #WLD2026, or by sending them via Messenger to the Bulgarian Lymphedema Association’s Facebook page.

Editor: Diana Tsankova