EFA Partner GlobalSkin hosted an event with two non-state actors in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO), the International League of Dermatological Societies and the International Alliance of Patient Organizations. The event, entitled Improving Health Outcomes for People Living with Dermatological Diseases Worldwide took place on 25 May in Geneva during the World Health Assembly and marked the launch of a Global Dermatology Coalition.
EFA Member aha! Swiss Allergy Center attended on the network’s behalf.
The event examined the considerable physical, emotional and social toll associated with living with a life-long skin condition and explored the wider costs for society resulting from the low policy prioritization given to these conditions. Prof. Luca Borradori, International League of Dermatological Societies (ILDS), discussed the burden of dermatological diseases giving a global snapshot. He noted that:
- Skin diseases are a leading cause of global disease burden (GBD) affecting millions of people in both high income and low-income countries
- Of the top 25 most prevalent diseases, 4 are skin disease
- Collectively, skin diseases affect 1.8 billion people
- There are many direct and indirect consequences to skin diseases including increased clinical burden, social isolation and stigmatisation
- Atopic eczema has the highest disease burden of all skin diseases measured by Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)
They also discussed multi-stakeholder actions needed to change this reality and highlighted concrete solutions that are underway to elevate medical dermatology on the global health policy agenda.
To this end, Dr. Guy Fones, WHO Head, Global Coordination Mechanism on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), talked about the “WHO Multi-stakeholder Engagement” strategy, highlighting the importance of working across stakeholder groups for sustainable NCD solutions at global, regional and national levels. He explained how this complex problem needs collaborative solutions, complimented by an overview of what the WHO implements in different regions/countries. Importantly, NCDs (including dermatological diseases) are in the centre of the WHO strategy for the coming years.