TheABS-CBN afternoon series The Greatest Love joined the campaign to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease. It recently held “Remembering Our Greatest Love: An Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Forum.”
Kapamilya stars Sylvia Sanchez, Dimples Romana, Matt Evans, Arron Villaflor, Ruby Ruiz, and Alex Medina, as well as the program’s production staff and creative team all came together to better understand the disease and use their influence to spread understanding of it. Neurologist Dr. Darwin Dasig, president of the Dementia Society of the Philippines (DSP) also spoke at the forum to shed light on the disease.
The program launched its campaign before the end of September, which is designated as Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, to share the misconceptions about the diseases and impart the experiences of families that are affected by it.
In The Greatest Love, Gloria (Sylvia) loses pieces of her memory after she is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Meanwhile, Sylvia turned emotional as she narrated her experience spending some time with an Alzheimer’s patient as her preparation for the role.
“I hope it does not happen to me. It’s frightening. Hopefully there is someone who loves me just as much and will take care of me,” said the veteran actress.
Boy Abunda, meanwhile, shared in a VTR his experiences dealing with his mother who has dementia. The forum’s participants also turned emotional when an ABS-CBN employee recounted the challenges she and Alzheimer’s disease-afflicted mother have to face.
As the program ended, Dr. Dasig thanked the show’s production team for using the program as an effective and realistic portrayal of the life of Alzheimer’s disease patients and their families.
Meanwhile, more viewers are tuning in to the program now that Gloria’s long-kept secret – that Lizelle (Andi Eigenmann) has a different father – has been revealed. According to data from Kantar Media, it recorded its all-time high national TV rating of 16.6 percent versus Sa Piling ni Nanay (14percent) on Sept. 29.
The Greatest Love airs after Doble Kara on ABS-CBN or ABS-CBN HD (SkyCable ch 167). For updates, likewww.facebook.com/thegreatestlovetv. Catch on the program’s past episodes via iWant TV or via skyondemand.com.ph for Sky subscribers.