FRONTESPIZIO - Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo

1. Introduction: dermatology and human rights 71. INTRODUCTION:DERMATOLOGY AND HUMAN RIGHTSAldo MorroneToday’s real borders are not between nations,but between powerful and powerless, free andfettered, privileged and humiliated. Today, nowalls can separate humanitarian or humanrights crises in one part of the world fromnational security crises in the other.Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General,in his acceptance speech upon receivingthe 2001 Nobel Peace PrizeIntroductionThe WHO Constitution states that “The enjoyment of the highest attainablestandard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human beingwithout distinction of race, religion, political, economic or social condition”.Although in 1987 the WHO adopted the strategic goal “Health for All by theyear 2000”, Health for All documents have largely ignored the skin and itscontribution to a socially and economically productive life. In 2003 Healthfor All has not been achieved. Or better, we have good health, but only in theNorth of the World…and not everywhere.What about the South? What about Healthy Skin for All?Skin diseases represent the greatest problem of public health care in all developingcountries. Specifically:1.Over 30% of all the diseases observed in the rural medical centres of developingcountries involve cutaneous disorders.2. In tropical developing countries 90% of skin diseases are diagnosed andtreated by health workers who have no dermatological knowledge.Skin diseases are amongst the five most common causes of death and/or lossof working capacity among rural populations.3. About 3.4 billion people – over half the population of the planet – live inareas with no access to basic skin treatment.