The grant will go toward supporting the group's project, "Atopic Dermatitis is More Than a Skin Disease: Raising Awareness and Improving Care."
The National Eczema Association (NEA) recently announced1 it was awarded a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) set to go toward supporting its project, "Atopic Dermatitis is More Than a Skin Disease: Raising Awareness and Improving Care."
The grant announcement, made in early October, comes just days after grant funding began on September 29—just in time for National Eczema Awareness Month.
The grant will allow the project, and the NEA, to increase knowledge and awareness of atopic dermatitis (AD) among health professionals, patients, patient families, and the general public, inviting people to view the condition in a different light, given its severity, seriousness, and the misconceptions surrounding patients living with AD.
"This is a pivotal moment for NEA and for the eczema community," said Julie Block, president and CEO of the NEA, in a press release.1 "One in 10 individuals will experience AD during their lifetime and yet the significant impact of AD has been underappreciated. The CDC grant will enable us to greatly expand our efforts to increase awareness of the seriousness of AD and mitigate the detrimental impacts to patients, families and society."
The NEA says the grant-funded project will emphasize the need for more timely and accurate patient diagnoses. The NEA cites that uncontrolled or undiagnosed AD plays a significant role in driving the condition’s overall burden of disease.
The grant, coupled with collaborators working closely with the NEA, is also aimed at supporting efforts to alleviate health burden, address disparities, and improve AD-related data collection. The NEA, along with collaborators, will seek to develop regional estimates of the condition’s prevalence.
"Today we have a much better understanding of the multidimensional burden of AD as well as a growing number of effective treatments for AD of all severities," said Wendy Smith Begolka in the release.1 Begolka is chief strategy officer at NEA and the lead for the grant-funded project. "With increased awareness, improved diagnosis and optimal disease management, the lives of patients and families can be significantly changed for the better."
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