A number of highly effective methods of vitiligo treatment have been introduced in Kazakhstan

May 29, 2023

The Ministry of Health has declared June as vitiligo Awareness Month in Kazakhstan. The goal of World Vitiligo Day (WVD) is to help patients overcome prejudices, gain access to modern methods of vitiligo treatment and lead a full life.

For the first time, the city of Almaty has been chosen as the international headquarters of the 13th World Vitiligo Day (WVD), which will be celebrated on June 24, 2023.

Aliya Aidarbekovna Kasymkhanova, Candidate of Medical Sciences, dermatologist of the Vitiligo and Skin Health Center in Almaty, member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the VRF (World Foundation for the Study of Vitiligo), was elected President of the WVD.

Vitiligo causes lightening of the skin with spots on the face and body. This is an unpredictable, chronic, non-infectious, autoimmune skin disease, which affects every hundredth person to varying degrees. Vitiligo is not fatal and does not cause any organic harm, but sometimes has a devastating effect on the social life of a sick person and his family. The disease can affect anyone at any age, but usually this condition develops before the age of twenty, which means that many children live with vitiligo.

Dermatologists of the country have done a lot of work on the introduction of highly effective methods of treating this disease. If in 2010 there was only one Waldman phototherapy unit in Shymkent in Kazakhstan for the treatment of vitiligo, then in 2022 the "gold standard of disease treatment" is already being carried out in 13 centers of the country. Phototherapy is used in three republican and 10 regional centers.

In 2015, surgical methods of treatment were introduced in Shymkent for the first time in the Republic of Kazakhstan.Today, four types of surgical operations are available in the "Vitiligo and Skin Health Center" in Almaty, which allow achieving efficiency from 85% to 100%.

Kazakh scientists have identified significant genotypes affecting the prognosis of vitiligo, developed a protocol of combined phototherapy, as well as algorithms for managing patients based on genetic testing and with progressive vitiligo.

More than 12 thousand patients have applied to Kazakhstan dermatological institutions with vitiligo problems in a year. This indicator is probably more than 2-3 times higher, since many doctors and patients are not informed about possible methods of treating vitiligo. Many people, due to shyness, public condemnation and stigma, prefer to hide the disease and do not go to the doctor's appointments, which is a serious obstacle to treatment.

As part of the WVD campaign, an international conference entitled "Vitiligo: A Look into the future" will be held in Almaty on June 24 with the participation of practitioners, researchers and patients from all over the world. Among the participants of the conference:

- Jan Valle - Director General of the Vitiligo Research Foundation, Professor at the University of Gugliemo Marconi in Rome, author of the international bestseller "Guide to Vitiligo".

- Torello Lotti – Professor, Head of the Department of Dermatology and Venereology at the University of Gugliemo Marconi in Rome.

- Konstantin Lomonosov – Professor, Head of the Vitiligo Clinic of the First Medical University in Moscow.

- Sina Karimi – therapist, immunologist at the LusineBruxelles Laboratory, Brussels.

Patients:

- Lilia Mamieva, brand designer, author of the book "Vitiligo doesn't scare me".

- Meruert Kurmet is a fashion model.

- Ruzana Anuarbekova is a teacher – psychologist.

During June, the Kazakh Scientific Center of Dermatology and Infectious Diseases of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in partnership with the “Center for Vitiligo and Skin Health” in Almaty, holds various events to popularize knowledge about vitiligo.

The XIII regional scientific and educational forum "20 regions of dermatovenerologists, dermatocosmetologists and leprologists" will be held in Uralsk on June 22.

On June 23, a demonstration operation of transplantation of uncultivated epidermal cells will be performed at the clinic "Center for Vitiligo and Skin Health" in Almaty. A round table with patients will also be held here.

On June 25, a round table "Vitiligo: problems and prospects" with the participation of domestic and foreign experts is planned in Shymkent.

https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/dsm/press/news/details/562064?lang=ru

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