Dear GlobalSkin Members,

2024 off to a busy start as we continue to make progress across GlobalSkin’s strategic objectives:

• Elevate - Amplify the voice of the dermatology patient community globally
• Champion - Ensure a strong and representative global voice for people affected by dermatological diseases
• Unite - Change the way the world perceives dermatological conditions

To Elevate our community, we continue to grow and now have 260 Member organizations, representing 58 disease areas and 72 countries. We have two new members from Costa Rica and South Korea.

Additionally, GlobalSkin is planning its first onsite Africa region event with 36 African patient organization members from 12 countries in Nairobi, Kenya in April. this ground-breaking event will strengthen our African network of dermatology patient organizations so that the lives of the patients they serve are positively impacted in a meaningful way.

To Champion your global voice, GlobalSkin alongside the ILDS will participate in official meetings with the World Health Organization (WHO) departments for the second year in a row. These meetings in Geneva in March with the permanent missions of WHO Member States will help our efforts to increase the number of supporting countries in pursuing an all-skin diseases resolution to be considered at the next World Health Assembly (WHA) in 2025. 

Global Skin also co-hosted an online roundtable with the European Society for Dermatological Research on the “High-burden but Under-Researched: Policy Responses to Address Under-Prioritized Skin Diseases" which brought together experts, policymakers, and key stakeholders in the field of dermatology and public health.

To Unite our community and change the way the world perceives dermatological conditions, we continue to focus on our ground-breaking GRIDD project. We will see many important achievements this year as the researchers at the University of Hamburg continue to analyze the data from the GRIDD Study that many of you participated in. I am happy to share too that we have had another manuscript published on the project in the The Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (JEADV) and look forward to more future publishing opportunities.

As the World Skin Health Coalition Secretariat, GlobalSkin helped launch a worldwide campaign #NotJustMySkin, raising awareness about the challenges experienced by millions of people around the world every day because of their skin diseases and conditions. We invite you to participate in and promote this global awareness campaign that seeks signatories to an open letter calling for policy makers to prioritize access to care and affordable treatment options for patients. We have developed a social media toolkit for your use with messages, social cards, videos and a release calendar for the assets. We encourage you to be part of this coordinated campaign that runs from March 11 - April 5, 2024.

Of course, none of the work that GlobalSkin does can be done without YOU! Your participation is paramount to GlobalSkin having a strong, inclusive, and impactful Organization. I encourage you to engage, get involved, or join a committee. GlobalSkin board elections will be taking place soon and I look forward to our Annual General Meeting on June 19^th.

Your voice can help promote patient-centric healthcare with decision-makers around the globe to improve the lives of those living with dermatological conditions worldwide. Together, we can make it happen!

Gratefully,

Marc Yale

GlobalSkin Board President

Skin diseases transcend mere surface appearances for millions globally. They embody a journey riddled with obstacles: the burdensome quest for timely diagnosis, the fight for accessible, suitable, and affordable care, and the ongoing battle against the hidden yet significantly huge impactful toll on mental well-being. World Skin Health Coalition's awareness campaign "Not Just My Skin" which runs March 11 - April 4, 2024, aims to amplify these challenges, bringing attention to the frequently overlooked physical and psychosocial impacts of living with skin diseases.

As a member of the World Skin Health Coalition, GlobalSkin is actively raising awareness about the impact of skin conditions and urging health policy leaders across the globe to prioritize these crucial matters. However, our efforts are incomplete without your support. We are calling on our global alliance of dermatology patient organizations to help us reach policymakers worldwide.

 
How You Can Get Involved

1. Sign the Open Letter Available at notjustmyskin.org

When you sign our open letter, you're not merely endorsing a cause; you're championing a future where skin health is rightfully valued. It's about ensuring that every person facing a skin condition is treated with the care, respect, and attention they merit. Your signature serves as your voice, amplifying the call for global health policy reform. It represents a stance against marginalization and a stride towards prioritization.

2. Use Campaign Resources to Spread the Word

We strongly encourage you to promote the awareness campaign within your patient network by leveraging the comprehensive campaign toolkit. This toolkit includes an array of resources such as social media cards, website content, email materials, printable assets, and more. By utilizing these tools, you as a patient organization can effectively disseminate vital campaign information, engage your communities, and amplify the campaign's message across various platforms.

As I write this, I can’t believe that it is late September already! It has been a very busy year and if that is any indication of what the rest of the year holds, we will certainly finish 2023 in a very exciting and noticeable way.