The reported prevalence ranges between 0.09% and 11.43%, making psoriasis a serious global problem with at least 100 million individuals affected worldwide.
WHO — World Health Organization
Dr Oleg Chestnov, Assistant Director-General Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health
2016
Forward (from the 2016 World Report)
Global report on psoriasis Psoriasis is a common, chronic, noncommunicable skin disease, with no clear cause or cure.
The negative impact of this condition on people’s lives can be immense.
Psoriasis affects people of all ages, and in all countries.
The reported prevalence of psoriasis in countries ranges between 0.09% and 11.43%, making psoriasis a serious global problem with at least 100 million individuals affected worldwide.
Psoriasis has an unpredictable course of symptoms, a number of external triggers and significant comorbidities, including arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease and depression.
In 2014, Member States recognized psoriasis as a serious noncommunicable disease (NCD) in the World Health Assembly resolution WHA67.9.
The resolution highlighted that many people in the world suffer needlessly from psoriasis due to incorrect or delayed diagnosis, inadequate treatment options and insufficient access to care, and because of social stigmatization.
This WHO Global report on psoriasis brings the public health impact of psoriasis into focus.
The report is written to help raise awareness of the range of ways that psoriasis can affect peoples’ lives. It intends to empower policy-makers with practical solutions to improve the health care and social inclusion of people living with psoriasis in their populations.
The report highlights that much of the suffering caused by this common and complex disease can be avoided.
- Improving access to early diagnosis and appropriate treatment for psoriasis requires universally accessible health-care systems that provide people-centred care for patients with complex, lifelong conditions.
- Governments and other partners have a key role to play in addressing the unnecessary social consequences of psoriasis by the challenging the myths and behaviours that lead to the exclusion of patients from health-care settings and daily life.
Dr Oleg Chestnov Assistant Director-General Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health
ORIGINAL PUBLICATION
Global report on psoriasis
The Japanese version is published by Japan Psoriasis Association, 25-2, Kasuminome 2-chome, Wakabayashi-ku, Sendai-shi…apps.who.int
