World Urticaria Day, an annual event dedicated to raising awareness for a condition that impacts millions globally, yet often remains shrouded in misunderstanding: urticaria, commonly known as hives.

Imagine living with intense itching, painful swelling, and unpredictable skin eruptions that can appear anywhere on your body. This is the reality for many affected by chronic urticaria – an often debilitating skin disease characterized by wheals (welts) and often accompanied by angioedema (painful swelling). Beyond the visible symptoms, hives can profoundly impact a person’s quality of life, affecting sleep, work, social activities, and emotional well-being.1

World Urticaria Day serves as a powerful, global call to action from the hives community. It’s a day to:

  • Increase awareness of urticaria and its significant impact.
  • Promote early and accurate diagnosis, ensuring patients access treatment as soon as possible.
  • Advocate for equitable access to effective treatment and management for everyone, no matter their geographical location.

Did you know that urticaria may impact up to 20% of the population at some point in their lives?2 This staggering statistic underscores the urgent need for greater understanding and action. This is why, on this World Urticaria Day, the Global Allergy & Airways Patient Platform (GAAPP) joined forces with our esteemed partners at the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA²LEN) to amplify this call to action.

Goals

Through our united efforts on World Urticaria Day and beyond, GAAPP and GA²LEN are committed to driving substantive change for all people impacted by urticaria.

Our collaboration is focused on a shared mission: to develop and disseminate accurate, accessible, and empowering information about urticaria and its far-reaching effects to communities worldwide. Together, we aim to:

  1. Raise public awareness about the prevalence and challenges of urticaria.
  2. Empower patients with knowledge and resources to better manage their condition and advocate for their needs.
  3. Engage healthcare professionals and policy makers in dialogues that drive improvements in diagnosis, treatment, and support for people living with hives.

Join us in shining a brighter light on hives and advocating for a world where our community receives the care they deserve.

Learn more

What do we plan to do about it for World Urticaria Day?

GAAPP is encouraging its member organizations to participate in this communication grant by sharing the social media assets GA2LEN has prepared for you.

If you are a GAAPP member organization, please apply for our communication grant and share our social media assets in your language.

Communication grant for GAAPP Member Organizations

GAAPP has launched its communication grant for World Urticaria Day 2025.

A 200€ grant is offered to help you post at least two social media posts. The toolkit, which includes step-by-step instructions, is available in several languages. If you need these assets in another language, please contact , and we will be happy to arrange that for you.

To apply for the grant and obtain the social media assets, please click on the button below:

Apply for the Communication Grant

We thank the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA2LEN) for their invaluable partnership in the co-creation of the World Urticaria Day 2025 campaign. For more information, visit UCARE and UCARE4U.

We thank the overall support from our Corporate Council members:

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  1. Zuberbier T, Abdul Latiff AH, Abuzakouk M, Aquilina S, Asero R, Baker D, et al. The international EAACI/GA2LEN/EuroGuiDerm/APAAACI guideline for the definition, classification, diagnosis, and management of urticaria. Allergy. 2022;77:734–766. doi: 10.1111/all.15090. ↩︎
  2. Ibid. ↩︎