This year on May 10 for World Lupus Day, the World Lupus Federation is urging the global public, including those living with lupus, their friends and family members to raise awareness and share facts about the disease on social media and in their communities.

Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that can cause inflammation and pain in any part of the body, including the heart, kidney, lungs, blood, joints and skin. With lupus, the immune system, the body system that usually fights infections, attacks healthy tissue.

While anyone can develop lupus, 90% of people with the disease are women. It has no known causes or cure, and can be disabling and potentially fatal.

Access to care and medications continue to be a significant challenge for people with lupus around the world. A recent WLF global survey found that 1 in 4 respondents delayed or did not get medical care when needed in the last 12 months, with top reasons including wait times (44%), fatigue (22%), cost (22%).

Those that delayed or did not get care also were twice as likely to have multiple flares, a time when lupus symptoms, such as pain and inflammation, worsen.

The World Lupus Federation is encouraging people around the globe to share facts about lupus and raise awareness on May 10 for World Lupus Day using the official toolkit, whether it’s by contacting local media and policymakers or through an individual’s social media channels.

The toolkit offers several awareness resources and tools, including social media shareables in English and Spanish. People across the globe are also encouraged to wear purple and have buildings lit purple to shine a light on the fight to end lupus.

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