World Vitiligo Day takes place on June 25. Vitiligo is a skin disorder that affects 1% to 2 % of the population. It is a lifelong disorder that causes discoloration of patches in different areas of the body as well as a total loss of skin color. Other symptoms include hair turning prematurely gray or white and eyelashes or eyebrows losing color and turning white. World Vitiligo Day was first celebrated in 2011 and is also known as Vitiligo Awareness Day’ or Vitiligo Purple Fun Day, as purple is the official color representing the condition.
Vitiligo has been mentioned in the text of almost every major religion and its first description dates back more than 3,000 years. The end of the 19th century was a time of much progress in terms of understanding vitiligo. Doctors observed that episodes of emotional stress led to flare-ups of vitiligo. They also noticed that none of the then-available treatments made much impact on the disease. During the 1940s, it was observed that vitiligo may be genetic as the disorder affected families.
World Vitiligo Day was first celebrated in 2011 with the inaugural event taking place in Lagos, Nigeria. Micheal Jackson was one of the most well-known celebrities who suffered from this condition. He passed away on June 25, 2009, thus World Vitiligo Day is observed on June 25 in his honor.
In 2013 World Vitiligo Day changed its headquarters from Rome to Detroit. The movement has steadily grown over the years, from a handful of volunteers to 484,687 activists and 50+ clinics offering free skin check-ups in 17 countries. Many events are being hosted across the globe. Another part of the awareness campaign helps those with vitiligo to overcome any insecurities they have. These have been organized by local organizations and have taken place in person as well as online. In 2020 WVD a webinar in China was watched by 5,51 million people.
