GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department in the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (Ministry VSA) and Butterfly Warriors Lupus Support Group, have collaborated to organize an information session for Friday, May 8, 2026 starting at 6:00 pm at the Government Administration Building Rooms 1 & 2.
May is Lupus Awareness Month. On Friday evening there will be guests’ speakers, presentations, testimonials and refreshments.
May 10, 2026, is World Lupus Day under the theme, “Belonging. Belief.” This day is used to increase awareness of the symptoms and health effects of lupus, an autoimmune disease that affects millions of people worldwide.
The 2026 theme is “Make Lupus Visible.” The focus is on the “invisible” nature of the disease. Because many symptoms—such as extreme fatigue, joint pain, and cognitive issues—are not always apparent to observers, patients often face a lack of understanding from the public, employers, and at times healthcare providers.
You cannot “catch” lupus from someone else. While it can affect anyone, 90% of people living with lupus are women, and it is most common during childbearing years. It is estimated that at least five million people worldwide have a form of lupus.
Lupus is a chronic, auto-immune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body). Chronic means that the signs and symptoms tend to last longer than six weeks and often for many years.
In lupus, something goes wrong with your immune system, which is the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria, and germs (“foreign invaders,” like the flu).
Normally a person’s immune system produces proteins called antibodies that protect the body from these invaders. Auto-immune means your immune system cannot tell the difference between these foreign invaders and your body’s healthy tissues (“auto” means “self”) and creates auto antibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue. These auto antibodies cause inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body.
World Lupus Day is sponsored by the World Lupus Federation, a coalition of lupus patient organizations from around the world, united to improve the quality of life for people affected by lupus.
World Lupus Day serves to call attention to the impact that lupus has on people around the world. The annual observance focuses on the need for improved patient healthcare services, increased research into the causes of and cure for lupus, earlier diagnosis and treatment of lupus, and better epidemiological data on lupus globally.
For those seeking information about lupus, you can email CPS at cpshealthpromo@sintmaartengov.org
