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Twitter: @WorldLupusFed
Facebook: @worldlupusfederation
Website: https://worldlupusday.org/
Since 2004, lupus organizations around the globe have conducted activities on May 10 to raise awareness and educate the public about the symptoms and health effects of lupus. Together we can make lupus an international health priority and to ensure that people with lupus around the world are diagnosed and treated effectively.
World Lupus Day is sponsored by the World Lupus Federation, a coalition of lupus patient organizations from around the world, united to improve the quality of life for people affected by lupus. Through coordinated efforts of its global affiliates, the World Lupus Federation works to create greater awareness and understanding of lupus, provide education and services to people living with the disease, and advocate on their behalf. Learn more at worldlupusfederation.org.
World Lupus Day serves to call attention to the impact that lupus has on people around the world. The annual observance focuses on the need for improved patient healthcare services, increased research into the causes of and cure for lupus, earlier diagnosis and treatment of lupus, and better epidemiological data on lupus globally. World Lupus Day serves to rally lupus organizations and people affected by the disease around the world for a common purpose of bringing greater attention and resources to efforts to end the suffering caused by this disabling and potentially fatal autoimmune disease.
About Lupus
Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body). Chronic means that the signs and symptoms tend to last longer than six weeks and often for many years.
In lupus, something goes wrong with your immune system, which is the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria, and germs (“foreign invaders,” like the flu). Normally our immune system produces proteins called antibodies that protect the body from these invaders. Autoimmune means your immune system cannot tell the difference between these foreign invaders and your body’s healthy tissues (“auto” means “self”) and creates autoantibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue. These autoantibodies cause inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body.
Lupus is a Global Health Issue
Every day, more than 5 million people worldwide struggle with the often debilitating health consequences of lupus, a potentially fatal autoimmune disease capable of damaging virtually any part of the body, including the skin, heart, lungs, kidneys, and brain. Lupus affects people in all parts of the world. While some groups of people develop lupus more frequently than others, lupus develops in people of all ages, races, ethnicities and genders.
About the World Lupus Federation
The World Lupus Federation (WLF) is a coalition of lupus patient organizations, united to improve the quality of life for all people affected by lupus. Through coordinated efforts among its affiliates, the Federation works to expand global initiatives that create greater awareness and understanding of lupus, provide education and services to people living with the disease and advocate on their behalf.