Short Sleeve Day sweeping the nation

Psoriasis Cure Now, a nonprofit patient advocacy group, today announced that participants from more than half the states are already registered for the first national Short Sleeve Day, to be held on September 15, 2007. On this day, psoriasis patients from coast to coast, and their loved ones, will don short sleeves and engage the public about psoriasis. Short Sleeve Day, which will include public events in San Francisco, Washington, DC, Chicago and Salt Lake City, also includes a national "virtual" event. Registration is free, and can be done via ShortSleeveDay.com or on the Psoriasis Cure Now Short Sleeve Day website.

"We need people from all 50 states participating in this national event and we are thrilled to be halfway there with one month to go," said Michael Paranzino, president of Psoriasis Cure Now. "Short Sleeve Day is the centerpiece of a campaign to shift the way psoriasis is perceived by the general public, and this strong early response suggests that psoriasis patients agree it's time to change the way we interact with the world."

The Short Sleeve Day website features personal pages that registrants can use to encourage their friends and family to contribute to the campaign, and to get involved themselves. All registrants and donors will then receive Psoriasis Cure Now educational materials they can distribute, in turn, to their family, friends and neighbors on Short Sleeve Day.

"On September 15, everyone from the 'virtual' participants to the people attending public events will be working together, in a very real way, to improve public understanding of psoriasis and make things better for the millions of Americans struggling with this painful disease," Paranzino added.

Short Sleeve Day is being made possible by educational funding from Amgen & Wyeth and from Genentech, as well as by contributions from people with psoriasis and their loved ones.