Psoriasis is a severe disease, one that many suffer through as it often makes life and daily activities difficult. Janssen, the pharmaceutical arm of FMCG giant Johnson & Johnson, is launching an awareness campaign to help improve sufferer’s lives.
Launching on World Psoriasis Day, also today, Janssen hopes to improve the lives of those suffering from the disease. Through their “You deserve a better life” campaign, the company aims to raise awareness about psoriasis, as well as inform people who its far-reaching impact on quality of life.
The campaign was announced yesterday, attended by a variety of dermatology professors who discussed the effects of the long-lasting autoimmune disease. Including dermatology professor Dr. Assem Farag, Dr. Mahira El Sayed who is head of the dermatology department at Ain Shams University Hospital, and head of dermatology department in the Suez Canal Authority, Dr. Khaled Montaser. Also attending the event was Janssen Managing Director, Willem-Jan Blok.
Suffering through a painful and debilitated life
Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are severe chronic, immune-mediated diseases that are incurable, highly visible and often painful.
The disease, which typically affects elbows, knees and scalp, causes raised red and scaly patches to appear on the patient’s skin. This can make it painful for many to move around, and has been known to increase the chances of other severe diseases.
Nearly 3% of the world’s population lives with the disease, with people aged between 15-35 years old being the most affected.
“Psoriasis can develop at any age. Diagnosis and treatment of the chronic inflammatory skin disease poses a serious challenge given that 10-30 percent of psoriasis sufferers are likely to develop arthritis by time, according to dermatology,” stated Dr. Mahira El Sayed.
“Psoriasis patients in Egypt face a number of challenges including the generally under-resourced healthcare system and inadequate insurance provided by the government which does not cover new medications for the disease” said Dr. Assem Farag.
Leading the charge to improve quality of life and awareness
Janssen hopes the campaign will shed a light on the need for better healthcare for psoriasis patients around Egypt. The company has also played a leading role in finding new and better ways to prevent, intercept, treat and cure the disease for the past decade.
The company also celebrated World Psoriasis Day last year, with last year’s theme being “Breaking barriers for people with psoriasis.”
“We consider every disease a priority even if it is afflicting only one person” said Janssen Managing Director Willem-Jan Blok.
“We hope we can expand our research and medical experience as well as our support to the Egyptian healthcare system to achieve growth in the number of generally healthy Egyptians per year.”