Overview:
The first World Vitiligo Day was held on June 25, 2011, and has since become an annual global event, with the aim of bringing this “forgotten” disease to the public eye and highlighting the challenges facing people with vitiligo.
Objectives:
- Increase awareness of vitiligo and its appropriate care and treatment methods among the public and health care providers.
Facts:
- The average prevalence of vitiligo ranges from 0.5% to 2% of the world's population, but local figures may vary from 0.004% to 9.98%, depending on region and age group. The total number of people with vitiligo is estimated to be around 65-95 million worldwide.
- Vitiligo is a generally unpredictable skin disease that causes a gradual loss of color of the skin and covered hair in different parts of the body.
- Vitiligo is neither life-threatening nor contagious.
- Signs of vitiligo vary widely from person to person and are more visible in dark-skinned or brown-skinned people.
- Vitiligo most commonly affects areas of sun-exposed skin, previous sites of skin injury, body folds - such as the armpits - and areas around the body openings. Genitals may also be affected. Vitiligo may start as a patch that is slightly paler than the rest of your skin but will gradually become completely white.
Official date:
Globally: June 25th, 2023
Locally: Dhuʻl-Hijjah 7th, 1444H