Join Us in Celebration of National Eosinophil Awareness Week, May 16-22, 2021!
National Eosinophil Awareness Week (NEAW) officially established in May of 2007 to raise awareness of eosinophil-associated diseases.
Passed by the House Bill 296 in the U.S. House of Representatives, the third week in May will always be home to NEAW. The week is dedicated to raising awareness and educating both the medical community and the public about eosinophil-associated diseases,
We invite individuals, organizations, health care professionals, schools and other supporters to help APFED spread awareness in your communities, healthcare offices, schools and businesses. This toolkit will help you educate others and increase awareness about these rare and chronic diseases.
What Is an Eosinophil-Associated Disease?
Eosinophils are a type of white blood cell and they play an important part of our immune system. Eosinophils help us fight off certain types of infections, such as parasites. They are named because of the characteristic microscopic stain that gives them a reddish color under a microscope.
Many different problems can cause high numbers of eosinophils in the blood including allergies (food and environmental), certain infections (caused by parasites), eosinophil-associated gastrointestinal disorders, leukemia, and other problems.
Typically, eosinophils make up less than 5% of circulating white blood cells in health individuals and can vary over time in healthy individuals.When a person has elevated numbers of eosinophils in their digestive system, tissues, organs, and/or bloodstream, without a known cause, he or she may have an eosinophil-associated disease. Learn more
Awareness Week and General Ribbon Images:
Browse our library of digital images to post, share, and raise awareness of eosinophil-associated disease.
How Healthcare Professionals, Organizations, and Businesses Can Get Involved
- Take action each day of NEAW with Your Day-by-Day Guide of Suggested Activities.
- Share our fact sheet and “Can you say ‘Eosinophillic” flyer in your newsletters and on your social media pages. On social media, use the hashtags #NEAW20 and #EosAware.
- Change your social media profile image to a NEAW ribbon (choose an image from our library).
- Share our Public Service Announcements with connections you may have to local radio and tv stations.
- Share APFED’s awareness videos.
- Some patients are prescribed a strict elemental formula-only diet to symptoms of an eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease. DumDum lollipops are permitted on this diet and may be one of the few solid food some patients can eat. Show your support by passing out DumDum pops along with our “Dum Dums are a Food Group” flyer or “A Treat is Neat” card.
- Encourage your team members to participate in our ongoing fundraisers to benefit research of eosinophil-associated diseases. Or plan your own fundraiser! Email jforrest@apfed.org to get started.
- Join the National Eosinophil Awareness Week community on Facebook.
- Please let us know to share how you’ll be celebrating NEAW this year!
Patient Handouts:
APFED has a variety of disease subset-specific handouts available:
- Patient handouts to download/print can be found here
- Orders for hard-copy brochures for your office or waiting room may be placed through our online Gift Store:
Research:
- Learn more about the research APFED has funded through the Hope on the Horizon Research Fund
- Read about the Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Researchers (CEGIR)
- Encourage your patients to enroll in our Patient Registry and enroll in a Clinical Trial
Videos and Webinars:
Learn about APFED and eosinophil-associated diseases in this Intro Video
View APFED’s Informational Videos and Webinars for a more in-depth look
Social Media:
Follow APFED’s social media channels for the latest NEAW info and activities. When sharing on social media, use the hashtags #NEAW2021 and #EosAware to increase awareness!
National Eosinophil Awareness Week Facebook Page
APFED Channels:
Follow Us All Week and Use Hashtags #NEAW21 and #EosAware!