Skin Awareness

Skin disease is one of the world's
biggest health burdens.

You can see it, but most people can't tell what it is, or how urgently it needs care. The numbers below are why noticing skin changes early, and acting on them, matters so much.

Global Burden of Disease Study · 2021

A top-10 cause of disability worldwide

Skin conditions are among the most common human diseases on Earth, and the World Health Assembly now recognises skin disease as a global public health priority.

4.69B

Incident cases of skin and subcutaneous disease in a single year

Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

41.9M

Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost to skin disease annually

Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Top 10

Skin disease ranks among the leading causes of disability worldwide

Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Skin disease is not only cosmetic: it can be painful, contagious, stigmatising, psychologically damaging, economically costly, and sometimes deadly.

GLOBOCAN 2022 · Skin Cancer

~130,000 deaths, every single year

Skin cancer isn't the whole story of skin disease, but it is the most urgent example of why timing matters.

130,000

People die from skin cancer worldwide each year

GLOBOCAN 2022

~60,000

Of those deaths are from melanoma, the most aggressive form

GLOBOCAN 2022

~70,000

Are from non-melanoma skin cancers, highly treatable when found early

GLOBOCAN 2022

Melanoma: not just a skin issue. A timing issue.

Stage 1 — caught early 98% 5-year survival

Stage 4 — caught late 35% 5-year survival

5-year relative survival rates, American Cancer Society. Caught early, survival is high. Caught late, it drops sharply.

The Access Gap · South Africa

65 million people. 331 dermatologists.

Awareness only matters if it leads somewhere. In South Africa, and across much of the world, the specialist pathway is overwhelmed before it begins.

5 / million

Dermatologists per million people in South Africa, against a WHO benchmark of 40

8× below the benchmark

38 sec

Consultation time per person if every South African were seen just once a year

That's not healthcare, it's a conveyor belt

Months

Typical wait for a specialist appointment, while a lesion can change, spread, or worsen

Skin disease doesn't wait in the queue

Where People Get Stuck

The missing middle

Public advice says "check your skin and see someone if it gets worse." Specialist care offers assessment, dermoscopy, and treatment. Between those two ends is where most people get stuck, asking:

Is this serious?

Is this urgent?

Can this wait?

Pharmacist, GP, or dermatologist?

Am I overreacting?

So people wait. Appointments are months away, private care is expensive, and many are afraid they're overreacting, or quietly hoping it goes away.

That waiting is exactly where early-stage disease becomes late-stage disease. The gap is between concern and care, and closing it is what Skinvest is built to do.

What You Can Do Today

Know your skin. Check it regularly.

Learn the ABCDE rule for self-checking moles, watch for anything new, changing, or unusual — on any skin tone — and don't sit on a concern for months.