“Healthy skin@work”: the European campaign for the prevention of work related dermatoses

The current challenges for occupational medicine by work related dermatoses (WRD) will be addressed. WRD are mainly irritant and allergic contact dermatitis, but also occupational skin cancer, e. g. by cumulative occupational sun exposure or artificial UV-sources. The most recent data confirm that WRD are more than ever an emerging trend in view of the rising hazards due to lack of knowledge on skin protection by exposed workers, new chemicals etc. Meanwhile, WRD are at least second on the list of occupational diseases, and in many European countries first (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, EU-25 report). WRD triggered loss of productivity is estimated to exceed € 5 billion per year in the EU, WRD representing up to 25% of occupational diseases. WRD also cause extensive suffering for workers and jeopardize competitiveness especially of small enterprises. Therefore, in 2010,  the “Healthy skin at work” campaign was launched by the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV); Slogan: “Your skin. The most important 2m² of your life”. The campaign focuses on increasing public and political awareness, disseminating knowledge on WRD prevention through targeted activities. It wants to make the recent scientific achievements in this field available to the EU-citizens through national sub-campaigns as everybody is entitled to a safe working environment.   First results of this initiative and its various national sub-campaigns are promising; also the global perspectives of the prevention of WRD increasingly come into focus. The need to improve on epidemiology and prevention of WRD was underlined by a recent WHO-workshop on the topic with representatives of 20 countries, including low income countries. So share your expertise with us in this session, join the preventive network EPOS (www.epos2010.eu) and, maybe, start campaigning WRD in your country. Time’s ripe.