OD-WAGA FOUNDATION FOR PEOPLE WITH OBESITY DISEASE

The OD-WAGA Foundation for People with Obesity Disease

is a Polish non-profit NGO. It is our mission to enhance the quality of personal and social life of people with obesity disease, prevent their discrimination and stigmatisation as well as to help establish a national obesity disease management and patient care system in Poland. The Foundation was established in 2014 on the initiative of Polish Society for Obesity Research experts hat hold the substantive patronage over the Foundation. The Founder and President of the Foundation is Magdalena Gajda, the Advocate for People with Obesity Disease Rights in Poland.

The name of the Foundation – OD-WAGA – is a play on words.

1. In Polish, the word “odwaga” is an equivalent of the English word “courage”. Thus, OD-WAGA refers to the openness and courage of persons affected by obesity in their fight for recognition and respect for their human, patient and civil rights. It also refers to courage in the fight against the disease.

2. In Polish, the prefix “od-” means “reducing”, “minimizing” and the noun “waga” means “weight”; therefore in this context OD-WAGA refers to the process of body mass reduction.