• Chronic Urticaria Awareness Day occurs on October 1 and has been celebrated worldwide every year since 2014.
  • The celebration aims to raise awareness about chronic hives and foster a sense of community among people with the condition.
  • It features a range of events, including educational webinars, social media campaigns, digital art projects, and medical consultations.

Chronic Urticaria Awareness Day is an annual event to help share information about chronic hives, a condition that causes itchy raised welts on your skin for 6 weeks or more.

Between 80 to 90 percent of people with this condition have a type called chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU), which has no known cause. CIU affects an estimated 1.6 million people across the United States, according to the Allergy and Asthma Network.

But despite the high number of people living with chronic hives, there’s still a lot to learn about the condition. Fortunately, Chronic Urticaria Awareness Day gives people around the world the chance to spread knowledge about CIU and other types of chronic hives, build community, and show support for those living with the condition.

Keep reading to learn more about this annual event and meaningful ways to get involved.

Chronic Urticaria Awareness Day (also called Urticaria Day or UDAY) happens on October 1st every year. It has been observed since 2014.

The event aims to address challenges related to chronic hives, such as the causes of the condition and ways to cure it. It also promotes awareness for urticaria among medical professionals, politicians, journalists, and the general public through a range of events, including:

  • virtual congresses
  • medical consultations
  • educational webinars
  • support group discussions
  • social media campaigns
  • digital art projects

Urticaria Day is truly a global initiative. The events page from the 2020 celebration included contributions from Peru, Thailand, India, Georgia, Canada, and Brazil.

Check the Urticaria Day website for the most up-to-date information on this year’s celebration.

Whether you want to celebrate in person or join the event online, there are a number of ways to celebrate UDAY. Here are some ideas for getting involved:

  • Organize an online forum. Reach out to your community to see whether you can host an online forum about chronic hives. Consider including a medical specialist or someone living with urticaria as part of a Q&A session or seminar.
  • Promote your event. If you do host an event, add it to the Urticaria Day website to spread the word and get others involved.
  • Share your personal experience. Talk about how urticaria affects you. Write a blog, post a video on social media, or participate in community discussions.
  • Advance your knowledge about urticaria. Learn more about chronic hives through podcasts and other educational initiatives. The All Things Urticaria podcast launched on UDay 2020 and releases new episodes regularly. You can also check out CIU & You, an initiative that shares stories of people affected by chronic hives with no known cause.
  • Make digital art. Create images that spread messages of hope and awareness about chronic hives. Then, share your art through your social media profiles.
  • Launch a local support group. UDay offers the opportunity to connect with others who live with urticaria. Use your new relationships to help start a local support group — online or in person — for people to discuss their experiences with the condition.
  • Contact local media. Talk to local bloggers and television reporters about Chronic Urticaria Awareness Day. Encourage them to report on the event and share information about chronic hives.

Urticaria Day welcomes support from everyone — even if you’ve never experienced chronic hives. Here are ways to show your support:

  • Use urticaria hashtags on social media. Search for posts that use the hashtags #uday or #urticariaday. Amplify those posts through your own networks by resharing or retweeting.
  • Change your profile picture. The Urticaria Day website and Twitter profile feature images you can share or potentially use as your profile photo to raise awareness about chronic hives.
  • Share reputable information about chronic urticaria. Articles by medical experts and people living with urticaria give insight into the condition. Give these stories a wider audience by sharing them with your friends.
  • Attend a community event. Check out the calendar on the Urticaria Day website. Attend an event in your area or online.
  • Learn the facts about chronic urticaria. The more you understand about chronic urticaria, the more you can share with others and spread knowledge about the condition. Listen to interviews with experts and medical podcasts, and read information on hives from trustworthy organizations, like the National Institutes of Health, the American Academy of Dermatology Association, and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
  • Offer physical or virtual space. If you have access to a meeting room, virtual conference technology, or other tools, offer them to people in your area to help them participate in UDAY.

The chronic urticaria awareness ribbon is white with small red dots. It is sometimes featured on T-shirts, socks, magnets, and other merchandise to help people show their support and raise awareness for chronic hives.

There are ribbons for more specific types of hives, as well. For example, the ribbon for cold urticaria (a type of hives that occurs after being exposed to the cold) has a white background and bluish-purple dots.

Chronic Urticaria Awareness Day is an annual event celebrated on October 1. It aims to raise awareness about chronic hives, a condition that affects millions of people around the world.

There are a number of ways to get involved, such as attending a webinar, creating digital art, posting messages of hope on social media, and joining support groups. You can also show your support by wearing the white-and-red awareness ribbon for chronic urticaria.

Check the UDAY website for more information on activities during this year’s event.