Improving Global Skin Health: Celebrating Five Years of the Vaseline Healing Project
Mark Semegen for Direct Relief
Skin diseases are as widespread as they are frequently overlooked. At any given time, just under a billion people have an issue with their skin. That’s where the Vaseline Healing Project comes in.
Among low-income communities, bacterial, viral, and fungal infections are common – and sometimes extremely serious. Deadly diseases like leprosy and dengue frequently show themselves on the skin.
Photo courtesy of Vaseline
But a lack of money, information, and health care providers trained to recognize and care for skin disease means that many highly manageable conditions go untreated.
Bhupi Singh/Direct Relief
The Vaseline Healing Project is a partnership between Vaseline and Direct Relief that works globally, in over 70 countries thus far, to promote better skin health.
Rose Levy/Direct Relief
The program partners with teaching hospitals and dermatologists around the world to train doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care workers to effectively diagnose and treat skin conditions in their communities.
Photo courtesy of Vaseline
In addition, through medical treatment missions led by in-country dermatologists, the project equips practitioners to provide quality dermatological care for underserved communities around the world. Here, a Nigerian dermatologist treats a young patient from Lagos's Makoko district.
Courtesy photo
In August 2016, a Vaseline healing misson was held to provide dermatology services and general health care to people affected by the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal, which caused widespread damage, and compromised access to sanitation and clean water.
Nepal
Mark Semegen for Direct Relief
Dr. Grace Bandow examines a patient's skin. "The most indelible memories are those from patient stories – their lives, their journey," she said of the experience.
Mark Semegen for Direct Relief
Medical resident Albert Antoyan screens a patient during a skin health event in Detroit, Michigan, in 2017, sponsored by the Vaseline Healing Project.
Stephanie Parshall for Direct Relief
United States
A doctor examines a patient's arm as part of the 2017 skin health event in Detroit. Lack of access to dermatological care affects communities across the country.
Stephanie Parshall for Direct Relief
Bangladesh
After hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fled to Bangladesh in search of safety, the Vaseline Healing Project supported a local organization providing medical care to those without access. Nearly 2,000 patients received comprehensive care, including dermatological treatment.
Photo courtesy of Vaseline
Medical treatment and supplies are distributed to patients at HOPE's Field Hospital in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. For the past two years, the Vaseline Healing Project has supported a weekly skin clinic serving primarily Rohingya refugees.
Photo courtesy of Vaseline
In September 2018, a devastating earthquake struck Sulawesi, Indonesia. In response to the need for comprehensive care, the Vaseline Healing Project joined Hasanuddin University and the Dermatology Association of Sulawesi to provide dermatological treatment to those in need.
Indonesia
Photo courtesy of Vaseline
A health worker applies Vaseline to a patient's arm during the Sulawesi medical mission.
Photo courtesy of Vaseline
A health worker examines a patient during the Sulawesi medical mission.
Photo courtesy of Vaseline
Peru
In November of 2019, the Vaseline Healing Project joined forces with Vida Peru, a local nonprofit, for a medical mission. Volunteer doctors were trained by the head dermatologist of the Peruvian Airforce.
Rose Levy/Direct Relief
A patient hugs a health worker during a medical mission in Peru.
Photo by Julio César Huaman Carnero and Jhon Kenny Rojas Cucho for Direct Relief
Rose Levy/Direct Relief
A combination training and medical mission was conducted in Nigeria and South Africa in November of 2019. Doctors, pharmacists, and community health workers were trained in diagnosing and managing regionally specific skin conditions.
Bhupi Singh/Direct Relief
Nigeria and South Africa
The Vaseline Healing Project enabled dermatological treatment for hundreds of patients, including in the Makoko district of Lagos, Nigeria. Here, a health worker examines a patient's skin during a medical mission.
Courtesy photo
When skin health improves, people are healthier overall. Since the Vaseline Healing Project began in 2015, it has reached over 5 million people.
Photo courtesy of Vaseline
Direct Relief has distributed more than 8.7 million Vaseline products since the program began. Going forward, the Vaseline Healing Project aims to heal the skin of millions more people each year.
Lara Cooper/Direct Relief