L’Oréal Act for Dermatology

L’Oréal Act for Dermatology is committing 20 million euros to increase access to skin health worldwide via four transformative Acts.

As part of the programme, the Groupe is partnering 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

Investing in cutting-edge research to deepen understanding of skin health, including the main barriers to skin health access, knowledge gaps for skin of color, the impact of climate change, and the profound effects of stigmatization linked to skin pathologies.

“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. Raising Awareness

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 Healthcare Professionals through Education

We are committed to training healthcare workers worldwide to diagnose and treat skin disease. Furthermore, L’Oréal is investing €2 million to facilitate open access to scientific publications for low-to-middle income countries (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 addresses the challenge of paywalled content in two ways. First, it directly funds open-access article publication costs for low-and-middle income country authors. Second, it builds a consortium of leading dermatology journals and publishers to provide access to their paywalled content for users in these countries.

Act 4. Scaling up Solutions that Augment Delivery of Care

Expanding access to skin diagnosis and treatment by rapidly scaling best-in-class, locally relevant solutions. This includes rolling out high-impact projects from the L’Oréal Act for Dermatology Awards, an initiative launched in 2011 by L’Oréal and the ILDS, held every four years to recognize leading dermatologists worldwide.

L'Oréal Act for Dermatology Awards

The L'Oréal Act for Dermatology Awards aim to recognize & reward social initiatives led by dermatologists having a positive impact on patients and people facing dermatological problems.

The awards consist of 3 categories:

1. Prevention and education on skin health;
2. Improved quality of life and self-esteem for people facing skin issues; and
3. 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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