2023 ILDS DermLink Grant Recipients Announced

The aim of this project is to use telemedicine-based consultation services to increase access to dermatologic care while assisting in the education of clinicians in communities in Tanzania's Bagamoyo coastal region who have limited access to dermatologists and dermatopathologists.

With the support of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (AEDV), Dermalawi aims to expand on some of the positive work and precedent they have already established in Benga, Malawi and increase access to dermatological care for residents in that region. In addition to offering free skin health services, especially for tropical diseases like scabies, Dermalawi aims to increase public awareness of common skin conditions and neglected tropical diseases.

The Association of Professors of Dermatology (APD) supports this project aimed at improving access to dermatologic care for the underserved in rural areas of Uganda. The initiative involves expanding the current dermatology triage service for HIV patients to encompass general dermatology services in four selected health facilities. This project aims to benefit both frontline health workers and patients, as it facilitates continuing medical education and provides wider access to high-quality dermatological services for the general population.

The African Society of Dermatology and Venereology (ASDV) supports this project that is aimed at enhancing knowledge of and treatment for common skin disorders in two rural communities, Mytolo Dlova and Mdolomba, in South Africa's Eastern Cape region. The mission of this project will be accomplished by giving instruction to community volunteers who will then provide educational programmes using materials and guidelines. Xhosa-language resources on skin care will also be created so that the community can continue to use them after the project is finished.

The British Association of Dermatologist (BAD) lends support to this project aimed at incorporating the provision of free dermatology clinics to refugee camps with collaboration of local clinicians. This project is also a part of the wider “Project SSKAPP.” Project SSKAPP (Skin and Sexually transmitted Infections Knowledge, Attitude and Practice) is a survey and health promotion strategy which uses mobile and digital technologies in migrant populations. The mission will involve training, daily dermatology consultations in the Bekaa Valley, as well as the provision of dermatology clinics in Beirut, Lebanon.

With the support of Irish Association of Dermatologists (IAD), Standing Voice aims to expand the Skin Cancer Prevention Program (SCPP) to six new districts in Malawi. Through this project, Standing Voice aims to deliver six-day training workshops to train 18 health professionals with the aim of improving skin cancer management of patients with albinism in Malawi. This project builds on the previous laudable successes of Standing Voice in this field and region.

The project supported by the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists, and Leprologists (IADVL) entails a collaboration between two medical centres in the west and east coast of India as this enables a comprehensive and in-depth assessment of how climate change influences migrants’ skin health in different ecological contexts. The project aims to address skin NTDs in an integrated manner by creating systems for early diagnosis and prompt treatment of skin NTDs while also improving cultural competence to reduce health disparities and stigmatization.

The International Society of Dermatology (ISD) lends support to this project aimed at creating dermatologist-led patient care at Butaro District Hospital (BDH) in Rwanda's rural Northern Province. BDH is one of Rwanda's two cancer centres, hence, establishing a dermatology speciality clinic at BDH will draw in more patients and teach medical students—the future general practitioners—not only how to diagnose skin conditions, but also how many patients with skin conditions can be successfully treated at the district hospital level.

The project supported by Dutch Society of Dermatology and Venereology (NVDV) aims to promote access to skin care, improve dermatological knowledge and abilities of frontline healthcare workers (HCWs), and raise awareness of skin-NTDs in Lautém district, a remote area in Timor-Leste. The planned activities include: 25–30 frontline HCWs receiving basic training in dermatology on prevalent and neglected endemic skin disorders, dermatology outreach clinic with the aim of seeing 150-200 patients, and contact tracing in three different parts of the district (clinical training of HCWs) and implementation of a teledermatology platform through WhatsApp offering a long-term commitment that will be supported by national and international dermatologists.

The Brazilian Society of Dermatology (BSD) aims to learn about the epidemiological, genetic, social, and economic profile of people with albinism (PWAs) in north-eastern Brazil. The planned activities for this project include: fact finding on the number and distribution of PWAs in Bahia and understanding their experience with  accessing dermatology services, education and awareness on UV protection and skin self-examination, use of questionnaires to collate demographic data and measuring the quality of life of PWAs in the region, performing skin biopsies and required therapeutic treatments (including ideal surgical therapies), as well as genetic tests for tyrosinase detection in order to classify PWAs according to risk of developing suspicious melanocytic lesions.

Supported by the Italian Society of Dermatology (SIDeMaST), this project, led by Beyond Suncare, involves the training of 26 nurses/clinical officers in 2 districts where Health Alert Organization (HAO) and Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) are jointly implementing its clinics to reach 165 people with albinism in Nyamasheke and Bugesera districts. It aims to train healthcare workers on sun damage injuries and non-melanoma skin cancer, including dermatological consultations and knowledge of lesions to refer. The project also aims to conduct awareness-raising campaigns in these districts on skin diseases. Furthermore, it seeks to implement albinism healthcare clinics, including early detection of skin lesions, in two albinism clinics, among other objectives.

With the support of Australasian Society for Dermatology Research (ASDR), through this project, the Armenian Paediatric Dermatology Society aims to provide diagnosis and access to management strategies for children living with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) in Armenia, particularly in rural areas. This project aims to investigate undiagnosed patients, follow up on previously identified patients, and record their information to determine the incidence of genodermatoses in Armenia. Additionally, it intends to educate not just medical professionals but also families of EB patients, as well as their carers, proper EB wound bandaging and complication of prevention.

The project proposed and led by the Ibero Latin American College of Dermatology (CILAD) aims to provide multidisciplinary care (including dermatology, ophthalmology, and optometry) for people with albinism in the Ailigandi area and nearby islands in Panama, which will provide the local population with sufficient tools to take preventive measures and achieve a reduction in the number of cases of skin cancer. The project would entail two days of activities: education and practical training of local medical doctors on the most common dermatological diseases and their treatments, and guided dermatological care through outpatient, ambulatory attention, for the population with albinism in the Guna Yala region and in the cases where cutaneous malignancies are detected, biopsies will be performed to complete diagnosis.