Willing to promote the care and respect for the people suffering from Down syndrome, Romfilatelia introduces into circulation the postage stamp issue entitled World Down Syndrome Day.
This project represents a philatelic premiere, being the first time when this topic is the subject of a postage stamp issue.
The Down syndrome is a chromosomal genetic condition affecting one of every thousand children. It is supposed that people with this syndrome have always existed. The syndrome was described for the first time by the British physician John Langdon Down, in 1866.
In 1959, the French pediatrician and geneticist Jérôme Lejeune discovered that Down syndrome was caused by the presence of an additional 21st chromosome, thus emerging a number of 47 chromosomes as opposed to 46, the normal number of chromosomes. For this reason, the syndrome is also known as trisomy 21 or mongolism.
The condition level differs from one person to another and it is hard to appreciate, at the moment of birth, how the disorder will evolve in the future. Individuals with Down syndrome have distinct physical features and characteristics and, though this condition is permanent, most of the affected people may live normally and have active lives if they are properly taken care of.
On 21st of March 2006, the Down Syndrome Association organized, in Singapore, the first motions meant to draw attention to the appropriate understanding of this condition. Simultaneously, similar events occurred in Geneva. Later, March 21st was declared the World Down Syndrome Day. Since 2008, World Down Syndrome Day is recognized by the World Health Organization, the specialized agency in public health problems of the United Nations.
Since 2006, every year, manifestations meant to raise awareness about Down syndrome take place on March 21st, in more and more countries throughout all the continents. At the same time, these events seek to mobilize others in recognizing the dignity and rights, including the one to welfare, of the people affected by Down syndrome.
Philatelic document – made into a limited run printing of 230 copies, equipped with the postage stamp, numbered and cancelled with the “first day” postmark.
