Written By Vanessa Kariuki ||
The World Lupus Federation (WLF) created World Lupus Day on 10 May to bring lupus organizations from all over the world together during Lupus Awareness Month
The topic of Lupus Day in 2023 is “Make Lupus Visible.”
How can the diagnosis of lupus and its psychological, social, and financial repercussions be made more widely known?
Lupus is a serious immune system disorder. Normally, antibodies made by the immune system shield the body from harmful intruders.
When the immune system assaults its own tissue, it results in the destruction of healthy tissue, which in turn causes pain and inflammation throughout the body, this condition is known as lupus.
More than 5 million individuals are affected by Lupus worldwide.
Although the precise cause of this autoimmune disorder is unknown, environmental factors, family history of illness, and hormone changes are among the potential causes.
There is no known natural treatment for this illness, but doctors advise making the lifestyle changes they prescribe with drugs, including eating a well-balanced diet, exercising, managing stress, and quitting smoking and alcohol.
Numerous undetected auto-immune illness cases exist throughout Africa.
Kenyans are not generally aware of the ailments, despite the fact that their frequency is rising every year.
There are surveys being done, but the number of persons with auto-immune disorders is not very high. There are no official numbers on how many people have these diagnoses.
Scleroderma, Lupus and other Auto-immune Diseases (SCLAD) and Lupus Foundation of Africa (LFA) are only a couple of the efforts that have been established in the nation.
These initiatives have been put in place to increase community support for those who suffer from autoimmune disorders and to raise awareness of them.
They seek to lessen the stigma that persons with autoimmune disorders face as well as the escalating financial, psychological, and social difficulties.
The first lupus awareness walk of the pandemic was organised by SCLAD on Sunday, April 9. The primary goal of this walk was to increase awareness of lupus as the globe gets ready to observe globe Lupus Awareness Day on May 10.
The day was jam-packed with jokes, enjoyment, and tales from lupus fighters. The colour purple, which is the lupus theme, was worn by every participant.
Despite these measures, which heavily rely on well-wishers, there is still a great demand for treatment. As a result, it is impossible to treat all patients due to the high cost of medication, which forces many patients to skip their medication.
Patients with lupus have pleaded with the government to act on their behalf in order to subsidise the expense of their treatment and, at the same time, support efforts to increase public awareness.
