March 2023

Regional growth and diversity are membership priorities for GlobalSkin. Our goal is to be a strong and representative global voice for people affected by dermatological conditions. We are proud to support so many new patient organizations and to see expanded in regional representation across the world.

In Africa: Increase of 44% since 2022 (18 -> 26)

In Asia: Increase of 57% since 2022 (14 -> 22)

In Latin America: Increase of 38% since 2022 (8 -> 11)

In Europe: Increase of 12% since 2019 (85 -> 95)

In North America: Increase of 12% since 2019 (66 -> 74)

We thank the GlobalSkin Membership Committee for taking on the important role of carefully reviewing each new member application that we receive!

Registration is still open for ELEVATE 2023 taking place June 1 – 4, 2023 in Brussels. Spots are filling up quickly and the event is already over 70% full.  The Conference starts with an evening reception on June 1 and plenaries & workshops begin on June 2.

GlobalSkin Members - we encourage you to register by March 31! 
 
Please note the pre-conference events for the Atopic Eczema and RareDERM organizations are already sold out.  

Travel Bursary Available  

Members: we can support your travel to the Conference! We have created a Travel Bursary Program and the application link can be found in your conference registration confirmation email. Your travel does not need to be booked prior to applying for the travel bursary. You only need a screen shot of an example economy-priced flight or train itinerary for the application.  
 
Our travel bursary budget is limited and applications are processed on a first come first served basis. Don't miss out - apply for the bursary today! 

If you need assistance applying, please contact conference@globalskin.org.  

Program Highlights  

The ELEVATE 2023 Conference is designed to strengthen connections, provide opportunities to collaborate and fuel your purpose. Our dynamic engaging program will focus on elevating ourselves, our communities and the cause we share.  Highlights include: 

• Elevating our Voices Together — Jose Antonio RUIZ-POSTIGO, from the World Health Organization (WHO) will give a presentation about the WHO and the opportunities for patient organization involvement.
  
  
• Advocating for Skin — Patient leaders will share inspiring case studies of how they are advocating locally, nationally, regionally and globally.  
  
  
• Navigating Compliance and Patient Engagement with Pharmaceutical Companies — Workshop topic led by the team at The Synergist.  
  
  
• Elevating Our Cause — Come together with fellow patient leaders from your region for a facilitated discussion about regional needs and how to stimulate policy change necessary for access to treatment and care of people living with skin conditions and diseases. 
  
  
• The Village — Shared table space for patient organizations, strategic partners and sponsors to display their printed materials. 
  
  And so much more! 

We would like to express our gratitude to our funding partners – AbbVie, Amgen, Beiersdorf, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi Regeneron, and Pierre Fabre – for their support. Your sponsorship has allowed us to unite our members and financially assist their attendance at this unique and special dermatology patient leader event!  Thank you!  

GlobalSkin, alongside its member organizations, achieved a major milestone in the Global Research on the Impact of Dermatological Diseases (GRIDD) project in January. GRIDD, which began in 2017 and has involved nearly 2500 patients worldwide, has produced the new 16-question Patient-Reported Impact of Dermatological Diseases (PRIDD) measure!  PRIDD, having been developed in close collaboration with patients, meets the gold-standard COSMIN criteria – the only dermatology-specific measure to do so. PRIDD will greatly enhance patient perspectives by providing quantifiable patient impact data for better decision-making at the individual, national and global levels, with higher prioritization of dermatological conditions. We are so grateful to our Member patient organizations for having made this ground-breaking, collaborative patient-led initiative possible.  
   
Translation of the PRIDD measure from English into 16 additional languages is well underway. The GRIDD Study will go live in early June which will coincide with the GlobalSkin Conference ELEVATE 2023 in Brussels. Members will be provided with supportive tools and resources to encourage their patient community to participate.  Our aim is to include 10,000 patient participants in the study.  
The data collected in the study will help validate the need for improved care, better treatment options, and more affordable medicines for your patients. We will need help from the entire dermatology community (including patients, patient organizations, healthcare providers, specialists, researchers, societies and industry partners) to work together to ensure as many diseases and countries as possible are represented in the study. You can help us quantify the challenges of living with a dermatological condition!  Get your patients involved!  
 
Our GRIDD Researchers continue to present on the research project at conferences and symposia. Recently, Dr. Racheal Pattinson, Cardiff University received notice that an abstract on the development and validation of PRIDD has been accepted as an award-winning presentation at the UKSBM 2023 in March. Our researchers have also been invited to provide two oral presentations at the World Congress of Dermatology in July as well as an e-poster at the International Societies for Investigative Dermatology meeting in May.     
 
We continue to greatly appreciate the support of our funders who have been involved in the project for so many years. We also thank the GRIDD Research Team’s co-lead researchers Prof. Matthias Augustin (Hamburg University) and Prof. Chris Bundy (Cardiff University) and their amazing researchers (Nirohshah Trialonis-Suthakharan and Dr. Rachael Pattinson) and our Scientific Advisory Board for their continued dedication and work as we now work to launch the GRIDD Study globally!   
 
To can learn more about GRIDD project abstracts and presentations: 

Thank you, Members, for taking the time to fill in the Members Survey! Your insights and perspectives are greatly appreciated.  Staff will now analyze the results of the survey and these insights will inform how we implement our programming and new Strategic Plan.
 
In recognition of participants’ time, we have drawn for the prize winners of GlobalSkin shop merchandise. Congratulations to:

Masanori Okuse, Japan Psoriasis Association  
Michael Koehler, FAIM - The Association For Autoimmune Diseases 
Marie-Claude Boiteaux, Cutis Laxa Internationale  

We hope you love your new GlobalSkin and disease day branded items.

The Global Dermatology Coalition, a patient-led multi-stakeholder group comprised of 21 Partners – patient organizations, health care professional societies, industry companies and research organizations – has an exciting year ahead. Together, we are working to change perceptions about the often-severe impacts of these diseases and elevate their prioritization in health policy – both at global and national levels.

In late 2022, Coalition partners approved a Global Awareness Campaign Strategy. Now working with a marketing agency, it has begun the implementation of that strategy which will lead to an impactful global awareness campaign in 2024. Keep an eye out for our social media posts and email blasts which will help us make this Awareness Campaign a huge success.

The Coalition has also recently approved a five-year strategic plan that will guide their efforts. Working groups have been created to support activities focused on the awareness campaign and advocacy. The Coalition Steering Committee met on January 31 and all Partners met on March 21. GlobalSkin continues to act as the Coalition Secretariat supporting these initiatives through a part-time coordinator.

Any multi-country patient organization, health care professional society, research organization or industry organization is welcome to become part of the Coalition. All other single-country member organizations are represented by GlobalSkin. Please learn more about the coalition here or contact Catriona.grant@globalskin.org.