The 2015 Vitiligo Advanced Technology Summit was held on May 23, 2015 in Zheng Zhou (China), superbly organised by Mr.Ye, the President of the China Vitiligo Hospitals. Over 150 experts attended the mixed format of the Summit, with lectures and following group discussions in a specially designed educational area. Read more
An excellent presentation of Vitiligo Treatment Guidelines was offered by Prof. Andrija Stanimirovic during recent Master Class in Croatia. Vice-president of the Master Class and President of Croatian Vitiligo Association, Prof. Stanimirovic reviewed five treatment algorithms suggested by American, British, European and Japanese vitiligo specialists, and shared guidelines from Croatia that were introduced by his team in 2014. Download PPT presentation.
Over 170 participants have attended this key regional meeting for the latest achievements in the field of pigmentary disorders of the skin. A practical demonstration of melanocyte transfer was given by Prof. Davinder Parsad, read more.
– See more at: http://vrfoundation.org/announcements/156#sthash.fMTVRSdD.dpuf
Shymkent, Kazakhstan has become a leading center for vitiligo research and treatment in all CIS countries. The address is on the World Vitiligo Map.
Prof. Davinder Parsad introduced the most advanced micro-surgery and melanocyte transplantation techniques.
Shymkent, Kazakhstan has become a leading center for vitiligo research and treatment in all CIS countries. The address is on the World Vitiligo Map.
Prof. Davinder Parsad introduced the most advanced micro-surgery and melanocyte transplantation techniques.
We hope that you are one of nearly half a million people to have signed our petition to the UN Secretary General, asking for June 25th to be officially designated World Vitiligo Day (WVD). The more names we have, the stronger we are – so thank you for your support.
Many of you ask questions about WVD, so here is a rundown of the most common queries:
This year, the headquarters will be in Shenyang, China, under the presidency of Prof. Xing-Hua Gao, MD, Chairman and Professor of Department of Dermatology, No.1 Hospital of China Medical University (see photo here below).
That distinction currently belongs to India, followed by the US, Indonesia and then China. You can see a full, up to date breakdown here.
In a word, no! We encourage individual organizations to use whatever works best for them. VITSAF in Nigeria, for example, uses purple, whereas others are using a black and white combination.
Yes, thanks to Olumide Omololu who won a competition in 2014 to design an ‘unofficial’ WVD T-shirt. This proved so popular that we distributed 1500 of the shirts to support groups across the world, but we have now run out of stock. So, if you want to wear WVD T-Shirt, try doing it yourself – just download the design file you like from here and then send or take it to a print on demand T-shirt shop.
Yes, we have put together a media toolkit to help you launch local awareness campaigns. Go to our Download Center and scroll down to the ‘Media’ section to find the relevant downloads.
Signing the petition and telling people about WVD is a great start. More specifically, we are currently asking dermatologists and beauty clinics to offer free skin check-ups for vitiligo and other pigmentation disorders on or around June 25th. Last year, 50+ participating doctors and clinics in 17 countries provided free consultations to well over three thousand patients. So, if you’re a dermatologist or beautician, or you know somebody who is and can help us, we would love to hear from you. Please drop us a line.
If you already have something planned for World Vitiligo Day then please do let us know. We’ll add your activity to our WVD calendar of events.
See what happened where last year on June 25
– See more at: http://vrfoundation.org/patients–2/world-vitiligo-day/world-vitiligo-day-2015-update#sthash.QJtnqMRv.dpuf
American Skin Association (ASA) Honors Outstanding Researchers During Annual Meeting Of The Society For Investigative Dermatology
The World Vitiligo Day campaign is gearing up. This year’s headquarters are in China, under the presidency of Prof. Xing Hua Gao, Chairman of Department of Dermatology, No.1 Hospital of China Medical University. Next year, the campaign headquarters will be in Prague, the beautiful capital of the Czech Republic, and a leading candidate to host the World Dermatology Congress in 2019.
We are nearing our target number of petitions for the UN. As of April 28, 2015 we have collected 486,991 online signatures. That’s enough to fill up seven National Football League stadiums! (Wikipedia)
Here are stats representing breakdown of signatures by country to this date. If you haven’t done this yet, please go to http://www.25June.org and sign the petition.
– See more at: http://vrfoundation.org/announcements/148#sthash.KET7tnz0.dpuf
Opening ceremony by Professors Mirna Šitum and Torello Lotti was complimented by a performance of traditional Croatian music. Prof. Andreas Katsambas (left in the photo) from Greece will later discuss relationship between skin cancer and vitiligo. Recent studies showed that patients with vitiligo have a decreased risk of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers.
Master Class president Professor Mirna Šitum is making an overview and update on pigmentary disorders, – an aetiologically complex part of general and corrective dermatology, requiring interdisciplinary approach in diagnosis and treatment. Although most pigmentary disorders are benign in nature, they present clinical, cosmetic and psychological challenges to both patient and doctor.
An excellent presentation of Vitiligo Treatment Guidelines was offered by Prof. Andrija Stanimirovic, Vice-president of the Master Class and President of Croatian Vitiligo Association. Prof. Stanimirovic reviewed five treatment algorithms suggested by American, British, European and Japanese vitiligo specialists, and shared guidelines from Croatia that were introduced by his team in 2014.
An award winner of the 1st Master Class in Spain (2011) Dr. Natasa Teovska Mitrevska from Macedonia presents her study of Quality Of Life in vitiligo patients. Measuring the QoL is important for assessment of full impact of skin disorders on person’s life, making decisions about non-clinical aspects of the disease, improving doctor-patient relationship and overall compliance thus resulting in better treatment outcomes.
Psychological aspects of vitiligo were also reviewed by Prof. Jacek C. Szepietowski from Wroclaw Medical University, who suggest that benefits of adjunctive psychological support should always be taken into consideration in holistic approach to the therapy of vitiligo patients. Practical advices on vitiligo care in everyday use by Prof. Igor Bartenjev from Ljubljana School of Medicine (Slovenia) cover all steps, from first-line treatments to depigmentation.
Prof. Torello Lotti, Chair of the VRF Board and Chair of Department of Dermatology of G.Marconi University in Rome, is leading the session on vitiligo treatments (photo). In a presentation “Vitiligo: What’s New, What’s True in 2015” professor reviewed UVB and microphotherapy, topical treatments, use of products based on prostaglandin E and antioxidants. Low-dose oral cytokines therapy for vitiligo is aimed at improving the stimulation of the residual population of melanocytes, and is a very promising new therapeutic approach to vitiligo treatment.
In differential diagnosis of vitiligo it is important, according to Dr. Neira Purina-Ivic from University of Split School Of Medicine, to distinguish early lesions with partial loss of pigment from post-inflammatory hypopigmentation and other cutaneous infections. A leader of Croatian Vitiligo Association, Dr. Maja Kovacevic presented patient case reports, including rare clinical variants of the disease with mixed form of vitiligo following Blaschko’s lines, multi-chrome and blue vitiligo. Phototherapy and excimer laser treatment options for vitiligo were summarized by Dr. Kresimir Kostovic from University Hospital Center in Zagreb. Mutual factors affecting vitiligo and hyper pigmentation disorders were reviewed by Dr. Ivana Binic from Nis, Serbia, for a better understanding of their etiopathogenesis and all complex interactions between regulators of the melanogenesis process.
Patients joined the Master Class for vitiligo camouflage product demonstration by Dr. Joelle Nonni from France. The three-step technique of the medical corrective make-up helps patients restore confidence in their skin appearance.
Dr. Igor Korobko, VRF Chief Scientific Director, and Dr. Verdana Bulat (University Hospital Center “Sestre miloserdnice” from Zagreb, Croatia) discussing a future research project. Despite obvious clinical differences, vitiligo and other non/cutaneous diseases share many important similarities that may help us to better understand their immunopathogenesis and develop new treatments.
A novel topical cream for selective phototherapy using sunlight was introduced by it’s developer, Prof. Andy Goren (Applied Biology, USA). The cream’s unique formula filters out non-therapeutic wavelength of UVB from sunlight and delivers treatment for acrofacial vitiligo. It can provide a convenient alternative to clinic-based phototherapy, especially for those traveling or living in sun-abundant places like south of Europe, India and other regions.
A dedicated bio-IT system ‘Vitiligo Cloud Bank’ was developed by the VR Foundation for use by patients, doctors and researchers. Foundation’s CEO Yan Valle demonstrated features and invited those interested to sign up for free use of this handy tool.
VRF CEO Yan Valle and Nicolle Maquignon from Association Française du Vitiligo discussing collaboration between their non-profit organizations and potential creation of Federation of Vitiligo Societies.
VRFoundation 