IFPA applauds WHO Secretariat for report on psoriasis and WHO Executive Board for adopting resolution on World Psoriasis Day
At the occasion of the 133rd meeting of the WHO Executive Board, a resolution highlighting the need for action on psoriasis was unanimously adopted by the Executive Board members, following a comprehensive report of the disease by the WHO Secretariat
(Stockholm, June 28, 2013)
Psoriasis is a serious, chronic, inflammatory, non-communicable disease for which there is currently no cure. According to the official report on psoriasis issued by the WHO Secretariat in advance of the 133rd meeting of the WHO Executive Board, the disease affects around 2 percent of the global population, with an even higher prevalence in some countries.
“The report is in itself of exceptional value for IFPA, when it comes to shedding light on and recognizing a disease which for thousands of years has been connected to concealment, shame and discrimination as well as considerable suffering”, comments Lars Ettarp, President of the International Federation of Psoriasis Associations, IFPA. “IFPA and the global psoriasis community also welcome the key actions recommended in the report to improve the care and quality of life of people with psoriasis on a national level, and it is our hope that these actions will be given the consideration they deserve”, he continues.
Prior to the 133rd meeting of the WHO Executive Board, WHO member states Argentina, Ecuador and Panama organized a side event together with IFPA at the Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly. The side event brought together medical and patient experts on psoriasis to educate the delegates of the serious and complex nature of the disease. Special attention was brought to the fact that the mechanism that drives cardiovascular disease is practically identical to that in diabetes, a fact that calls for earlier detection and effective treatment of psoriasis, in order to alleviate the risk of CVD and other severe comorbid conditions.
The need for greater awareness of the serious nature of psoriasis and the significant physical, psychosocial and socioeconomic burden it places on its sufferers was well and truly highlighted by the resolution EB 133.R2 put forward to the WHO Executive Board by a number of WHO member states. The resolution had gathered great support among the WHO member states previous to the meeting and several WHO member states expressed their support for the psoriasis report, the recommended actions mentioned therein and for the resolution itself, resulting in the unanimous adoption of the resolution by the Executive Board. The resolution will now be taken forward for the consideration of the Sixty-seventh World Health Assembly in 2014.
Kathleen Gallant, Secretary of IFPA comments:
“The 133rd meeting of the WHO Executive Board, adopting a resolution on psoriasis, sends a powerful, global message that psoriasis is a serious noncommunicable disease that needs greater public awareness of its inflammatory nature, psychosocial impacts and shared risk factors with other, more deadly NCDs. This is a great opportunity for education and greater understanding, making a tremendous collective first step towards alleviating the devastating effects of this autoimmune inflammatory disease.
The resolution calls, among other things, for WHO Member States to engage in advocacy efforts to raise awareness of psoriasis, in particular through activities held every year on 29 October. Josef de Guzman, Treasurer of IFPA and Chairman of the World Psoriasis Day Steering Committee comments:
“Knowing how hard the psoriasis community works on all levels to raise awareness every year on and around World Psoriasis Day, October 29, it is very encouraging to see that these efforts are being acknowledged. An adoption of the resolution by the next World Health Assembly would strengthen these efforts even further and help bring a hidden disease into the light.”
Acknowledgments
IFPA wishes to thank the following for their invaluable support and commitment to the global psoriasis community:
The sovereign states of Argentina, Ecuador, Panama and Qatar and their Permanent Missions to the United Nations in Geneva for initiating the resolution on psoriasis, as well as all the other WHO member states co-sponsoring and supporting the resolution
The national and regional member associations of IFPA
The International League of Dermatological Societies (ILDS)
The International Psoriasis Council (IPC)
The Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA)
The Psoriasis International Network (PIN)
The Sociedad Latinoamericana de Psoriasis (SOLAPSO)
The European Association of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV)
The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD)
About:
The International Federation of Psoriasis Associations (IFPA)
The International Federation of Psoriasis Associations (IFPA) is the non-profit umbrella organization for the majority of psoriasis associations from around the world. Today IFPA has 50 member associations covering all regions of the world. IFPA unites psoriasis associations so that their global campaign for improved medical care, greater public understanding and increased research will improve the lives of the more than 125 million people who live with psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis. IFPA is actively campaigning for recognition of psoriasis as a serious, noncommunicable disease by the World Health Organization’s member states.
World Psoriasis Day, October 29, was initiated in 2004 by patients, for patients, to give people with psoriasis a global platform for awareness, information and education. Please visit the official World Psoriasis Day website for more information, www.worldpsoriasisday.com.
You can read more about IFPA, our members and our activities on our website www.ifpa-pso.org.
For more information about IFPA, please contact Barbra Bohannan, Director of Communications, at barbra.bohannan@pso.se or 46 8 522 083 15.
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