Foundations Use Sport to Raise Parkinson’s Awareness

Iyke Bede

For the third consecutive year, the Adewunmi Desalu Parkinson’s Foundation, in partnership with Parkinson’s Africa, hosted the Walking Football Tournament at the Eagles Club, Surulere, to continually raise awareness around Parkinson’s disease in Africa.

Parkinson’s, the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s, is a progressive condition that affects movement, speech, and coordination. Yet, low awareness across the continent means many cases go undiagnosed for years.

Chairman, Advisory Council, Adewunmi Desalu Parkinson’s Foundation, Dr Aderemi Desalu, opened the programme by stressing the event’s role in public education and advocacy.

“The important thing with doing programs like this is basically advocacy,” he said. “When we started, the number of people who knew what Parkinson’s was was very minimal. Many people had suffered from Parkinson’s for many years without knowing what they had. But with the work we are doing and the collaboration with the doctors in neurology, we’ve been able to bring a lot of people out of the woodwork.”

He added that sustained engagement with clinicians and community activities has helped bring more families forward for diagnosis and support, and created clearer pathways to care for people living with the disease.

Chairman, Board of Trustees, Adewunmi Desalu Parkinson’s Foundation, Maureen Desalu, pointed to measurable gains in public awareness and family education, one which helped transform the trajectory of the tournament from a four-team to a 16-team event.

“What has changed since walking football in the last three years is this community. It has grown. This year we have 16 teams playing. We have a lot more corporate interest in what we’re doing. We have a lot more people coming out to support the family members who are living with Parkinson’s.

“The first year, everybody wore the same polo t-shirt. By the second year, people living with Parkinson’s were ready to step up and actually be seen. This year, both the families and the members are out here, we are ready to be seen. Because we’re here, we keep moving, we live with Parkinson’s, but we will win with Parkinson’s.”

Marked by camaraderie, the event also featured the founder of Parkinson’s Africa, Omotola Thomas, who is living with Parkinson’s. She described the tournament as an “Incredible opportunity to celebrate persons living with Parkinson’s.” In her remarks, she emphasised that the condition’s burden often reaches beyond the visible symptoms, and that the coming together of families, clinicians and civil society provides vital moral and practical support in managing the disease.

Omotola and other warriors then delivered a cover of ‘This Is Me’, a symbolic performance organisers said spoke to self-acceptance, resilience and the strength found in community.