Skin health should be a right, not a privilege. 

2.1 billion people all over the world suffer from skin disease, yet fewer than half of them have access to dermatological care.^1,2

L’Oréal Act for Dermatology is committing 20 million euros, over 5 years, to fund access to skin health worldwide via four transformative Acts.

As part of the programme, the Groupe is embarking on a partnership with the WHO Foundation, to support the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) efforts to combat common skin diseases, as well as those caused by neglected tropical diseases, and contribute to increasing awareness of the impact of skin diseases globally.   

“L’Oréal Act for Dermatology represents our unwavering commitment to helping improve the lives of billions of people suffering from the physical, mental and emotional burden of skin diseases, by addressing the challenges they face in accessing skin health services for their condition,” said Myriam Cohen-Welgryn, President, L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty. “As leaders in dermocosmetics, we have a responsibility to take action. By working closely with dermatologists and healthcare practitioners, scientific bodies and global organizations like WHO, we can begin the monumental mission of ensuring skin health accessibility for everyone, everywhere, leaving no community behind.”

Act 1. Pioneering Knowledge on Access to Skin Health

“Dermatological Deserts”: A Growing Crisis

Preliminary results from the 194-country Global Access to Skin Health Observatory reveal staggering insights. Over a third of countries have one dermatologist or fewer per 100,000 people, which translates to at least 3.5 billion people living in a place with severely limited access to skin health services.

“We are facing a crisis with access to healthcare, especially for people with skin diseases. A shortage of dermatologists and frontline healthcare workers trained in skin conditions has led to dermatological ‘deserts,’ leaving millions of people without diagnosis or treatment for their skin disease. This leads to severe or even life-threatening consequences,” said Esther Freeman, Director of Global Health Dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Vice Chair of the ILDS' International Foundation for Dermatology (IFD), and Skin Observatory Lead Investigator. “We face an urgent call to action: to empower and equip frontline healthcare workers, collaborate with governments to prioritize skin health on the public policy agenda, and champion locally sourced best practices globally.”

Act 2. Advocating Skin Health for All

Elevating skin health to the forefront of public discourse, engaging both the public and private sectors, and collaborating with NGOs to drive meaningful policy change.

Act 3. Empowering Skin Health Carers with Education

Committing to train healthcare workers worldwide to diagnose and treat skin disease and investing €2 million to facilitate open access to scientific publications for low-to-middle income countries (LOOP). This will ensure knowledge reaches those who need it most, while providing dermatologists with financial support to access or publish critical research.

L’Oréal Open Access for Publications (LOOP)

Today, 62% of dermatology literature published remains behind a paywall and only 4% of all articles are from low-to-middle income countries authors and available on open access*. LOOP (L'Oréal Open Access for Publications) is a €2 million initiative designed to democratize access to dermatological literature, especially for researchers and practitioners in low-to-middle income countries. It addresses the challenge of paywalled content in two ways: First, it directly funds open-access publishing of research. Second, it is building a consortium of leading dermatology journals and publishers to provide access to their paywalled content for users in these countries.

LOOP will ensure knowledge reaches those who need it most, while providing dermatologists with financial support to access or publish critical research.

Act 4. Scaling Skin Health Solutions to All

Investing in a “Do Tank” to expand access to skin diagnosis and treatment, through the rapid scaling of best-in-class, locally relevant solutions. Such solutions include the rollout of high-impact, winning projects from the International Awards for Social Responsibility in Dermatology, launched in 2011 by L’Oréal and the ILDS, which paved the way to recognizing leading dermatologists across the world.

The International Awards for Social Responsibility in Dermatology

The International Awards for Social Responsibility in Dermatology, launched in 2011, aims to recognize dermatologists leading high-impact projects in three categories: prevention and education on skin health; improved quality of life and self-esteem for people facing skin issues; and access to care coverage and surgery. Projects are selected by a jury of dermatologists from the International League of Dermatological Societies (ILDS).

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