On September 14th, patient communities in Europe joined forces for the 6th World Atopic Eczema Day to raise awareness of the burden of Atopic Eczema. Watch and share our new video series featuring the #AtopicalLives of child and adult patients in 4 different countries.
What is World Atopic Eczema Day?
Atopic eczema is one of the most prevalent skin diseases in the world. It affects the body and mind of over 230 million people worldwide, whereby approximately 43 million are children aged 1-4. Often dismissed as “just a skin condition,” patients’ needs are not addressed in a supportive and timely manner.
Together with our partners from GlobalSkin, we lead an annual action on September 14th to raise awareness for the disease, to speak up about the burden it has on patients and caregivers, and to recognise the need for care and treatment that is reflective of the multi-dimensional nature of the disease.
In 2023, we focused on the psychosocial burden on children and youth living with Atopic Eczema.
Social Media Campaign 2023 - #IfYouOnlyKnew the burden of atopic eczema on children and youth
The social media campaign revolved around the hashtags #IfYouOnlyKnew and #AtopicEczemaDay, bringing to the centre the invisible consequences of the disease on the emotions and well-being of the youth.
Young patients from different countries have contributed to the development of the messaging for the international campaign, sharing their fears, concerns and desires, paving the way to the empowerment of their peers living with similar conditions.
EFA and Globalskin developed a campaign toolkit, where we included key messages and visuals with quotes of young patients living with atopic eczema gathered from all over world, ready-to-use and customisable social media cards to encourage the global community to join the annual call for a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to atopic eczema care.
Atopical Lives video series – new episodes released!
To mark the day, EFA released new video series to complete the Atopical Lives photo exhibition. The videos feature the daily lives of child and adult patients living with atopic eczema in Europe and were produced in collaboration with EFA Member associations from Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.
The video series brings two new episodes:
‘Under the skin you see’ (adult patient documentary): An endless race to find a balance between the constraints of your illness and the will to live to the fullest. Watch the atopic eczema patients on top of their lives in English, Slovenian, Serbian and Turkish.
‘Skin in the game’ (child patient documentary): Daily treatments and family - children with atopic eczema learn early the importance of discipline to be healthy and play, skin in the game. Watch it in English, Spanish and Turkish.
Following the release of the new Atopical Lives episodes, EFA generated 7800+ views on its channels and more than 100,000 views among the community members.
Watch the videos on campaigns/atopical and share the news with your community!
We were thrilled to see the amazing action of EFA Members, healthcare professionals, civil society organisations, and of course, patients – all those who make up our big atopic eczema community come together to support the youth living with atopic eczema.
EFA Member Atopika launched a national campaign on WAED 2023 in Slovenia.
Special thank you to EFA member organisations for their great initiativeson the day and for raising voices of patients across Europe.
Follow #IfYouOnlyKnew and #AtopicEczemaDay on X, LinkedIn, and Facebook to witness the global action.
Visit EFA’s campaign page and stay tuned for an upcoming World Atopic Eczema Day action in September 2024.
Acknowledgements: The EFA’s World Atopic Eczema Day 2023 campaign has been funded with unrestricted grants from EFA’s Sustainable Funding Partners AbbVie and Sanofi-Regeneron.