New Global Initiative Aims to Improve Eczema Care

Representing 11 patient organizations across eight countries, the initiative launches on World Eczema Day. 

The new Global Patient Initiative to Improve Eczema Care (GPIIEC) is a global collaboration to establish a common "yardstick" to assess the responsiveness of health systems to the needs of patients with eczema and their caregivers. The global initiative, representing 11 patient organizations and supported with funding from LEO Pharma, launched today—World Eczema Day. 

The partnership has identified the elements of health care provision that matter most to patients and caregivers and established indicators by which to measure them across eight developed nations. Global Parents for Eczema Research (GPER) is the lead organization for the initiative. The group’s 2020 literature review found that across the eight countries, eczema patients and caregivers encounter similar challenges: limited treatment options, obstacles to accessing specialists and treatments, and approaches to eczema care and management that ignore the full impact of the condition, particularly the significant psychosocial burden.

The GPIIEC will collect and analyze data from primary surveys and secondary data across the eight countries to create a comparative global dashboard of eczema care. The joint effort will lead to data-driven insights about each country's areas of strength and weakness in meeting the needs of people who live with eczema and result in policy recommendations for addressing them, organizers say.

"We are thrilled to join forces to define what better care looks like for the people we serve," says Rachael Manion, Executive Director of the Canadian Skin Patient Alliance. "Working together, we've learned that issues we face are similar across countries and continents. It's time to advocate for change, and defining that change is a critical first step." 

"We need patient centered measures for this condition, similar to those that exist for other chronic diseases, so that we can assess progress and chart a path towards improvement," says Melanie Funk, Managing Director with Eczema Support Australia. 

Eleven patient organization representatives guide GPIIEC:

• Stephanie Merhand / Marjolaine Hering, Association Française de l'Eczéma, France
• Thomas Schwennesen, Deutscher Neurodermitis Bund (DNB) German Atopic Eczema Association, Germany
• Anne Vastrup, Atopisk Eksem Forening, Denmark
• Mario Picozza / Lorena Marchetti, Associazione Nazionale Dermatite Atopica, Italy
• Rachael Manion, Canadian Skin Patient Alliance, Canada
• Andrew Proctor, National Eczema Society, United Kingdom
• Wendy Smith Begolka, National Eczema Association, USA
• Kathy Tullos, International Topical Steroid Awareness Network, USA
• Melanie Funk, Eczema Support Australia, Australia
• Cheryl Talent, Eczema Association of Australasia, Australia
• Korey Capozza, Global Parents for Eczema Research, USA