Discover Our Plans for World IBD Day 2025!
IBD Has No Borders: Breaking Taboos, Talking About It
Building on last year’s theme, IBD Has No Borders, we’re continuing our journey into 2025, with a renewed focus: breaking the silence around IBD by encouraging open conversations.
This year’s theme highlights a crucial, yet often overlooked issue: the taboo around talking about bowel movements. These conversations are difficult, but necessary. People living with IBD face not only the physical burden of their condition, but also the emotional weight of shame, isolation, and the fear of not being understood.
Why Talking Matters: The Case for Breaking Taboos
Many people with IBD delay seeking medical help due to embarrassment about their symptoms — and the consequences can be serious.
"Early diagnosis is crucial for effective patient treatment and prognosis, yet delayed diagnosis remains common."
– Lv H. et al., World J Gastroenterol 2024
Scientific studies show that:
Delayed diagnosis leads to worse outcomes like increased intestinal damage and a higher risk of colorectal cancer.¹
Stigma and shame around bowel-related symptoms prevent people from seeking timely help.²
1: Lv H, Li HY, Zhang HN, Liu Y. Delayed diagnosis in inflammatory bowel disease: Time to consider solutions. World J Gastroenterol 2024; 30(35): 3954-3958
2: Kate Muse, Emma Johnson, Annabel L. David. A Feeling of Otherness: A Qualitative Research Synthesis Exploring the Lived Experiences of Stigma in Individuals with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(15), 8038;
What We're Doing
We are launching a global social media campaign that:
Encourages people to speak openly about IBD symptoms
Shares lived experiences from around the world
Engages communities where these conversations are especially difficult due to cultural taboos
By normalising these conversations, we hope to create a space where people feel seen, heard, and able to seek help without shame. We’ll work with communities around the world — especially where cultural norms make such topics even harder to address — and provide content that sparks connection, reduces stigma, and ultimately helps improve patient outcomes.
This campaign isn’t just about raising awareness. It’s about challenging the silence that still surrounds IBD.
Because talking about it shouldn’t be taboo — it should be part of how we care, diagnose, and support one another.
Let’s keep breaking borders. Let’s talk about it.
Download our Campaign Toolkit!
Help us spread the word, raise awareness and encourage conversations around this important topic.
Download our official Campaign Toolkit for ready-to-use content, key messages, and visuals to support World IBD Day 2025.
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If you would like to translate the banner into your own language, feel free to send a mail to bella.haaf@efcca.org
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Helpful Tools & Info
Breaking the Silence: A Toolkit to Help Talk About IBD
Talking about life with IBD isn’t always easy. That’s why we’re proud to share a resource developed by our UK member, Crohn’s & Colitis UK, which ties in perfectly with our World IBD Day – Breaking the Taboo campaign.
As part of their 2023 awareness week, they created the Talking Toolkit—a practical guide to help people with IBD open up about their condition. Whether it’s with family, friends, or healthcare professionals, the toolkit offers helpful tips to make those conversations easier.
This resource reflects our shared mission to break the stigma and encourage open, honest dialogue around IBD.
Studies
Delayed diagnosis in inflammatory bowel disease: Time to consider solutions.
World J Gastroenterol 2024
Read study hereA Feeling of Otherness: A Qualitative Research Synthesis Exploring the Lived Experiences of Stigma in Individuals with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021
Read study hereThe Language of Poo: Just how do we talk about our bowels? (2023)
Crohn’s & Colitis UK has launched a landmark survey, asking people across the UK how comfortable they are talking about poo. Conducted by researchers at Kohlrabi, the study explores the language different communities use when discussing bowel health.
Purple Ribbon Awareness
Many of the IBD associations linked to World IBD Day are using the purple ribbon as a symbol of awareness and support for those living with IBD. If you would like to receive ribbons for your awareness raising campaign please contact the EFCCA office at info@efcca.org
Our specific objectives are to:
- Increase Awareness: By challenging societal norms and taboos around bowel health, we aim to normalise conversations about IBD, making it easier for people to talk openly about their experiences.
- Encourage Engagement: We invite people with IBD, advocates, healthcare professionals, and policymakers from around the world to participate, share, and engage in these important discussions.
- Improve Health Outcomes: By promoting openness, we hope to positively influence clinical practices, encourage early diagnosis, and ensure better care for IBD patients globally.
This campaign will ultimately break down taboos, foster global dialogue, and highlight the serious impact that societal discomfort around these topics has on the lives of people with IBD.
Together, we will demonstrate that while IBD knows no borders, taboo and stigma can—and should—be broken.
If you are part of a national IBD association, let us know your plans for World IBD Day 2025, and let’s discuss how we can collaborate on this initiative.
For more information please write to: bella.haaf@efcca.org