World Arthritis Day (WAD) is annually observed across the globe on October 12 to raise awareness about the existence and impact of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, often referred to as Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (RMDs).
The theme of World Arthritis Day 2022 is ‘It’s in your hands, Take Action‘.
Aims:
- To raise awareness of RMDs amongst the medical community, people with RMDs and the general public
- To influence public policy by making decision-makers aware of the burden of RMDs and the steps which can be taken to ease it
- To ensure all people with RMDs and their caregivers are aware of the vast support network available to them.
Background:
i. World Arthritis Day was initially established by Arthritis and Rheumatism International (ARI) in 1996.Â
ii. The 1st ever World Arthritis Day was observed on 12th October 1996.
The EULAR Campaigns 2022:
EULAR hosts campaigns to help achieve its goal in the area of Advocacy to increase participation in work by people with RMDs by the year 2023.
- The campaign is focused on understanding the issues the diverse people have in the field of Rheumatology.
EULAR Webinar 2022:Â
As a part of World Arthritis Day 2022, The European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) has organised a webinar, titled ‘Invisible Rheumatology – Why are we facing shortages and delays and how can we change this?’
- The aim of the webinar is to look at the current situation in rheumatological care and open the discussion on how we can position rheumatology as an important, interesting, and essential field of medicine to key decision-makers.
Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (RMDs):
i. Rheumatic diseases encompass more than 200 different diseases which span from various types of arthritis to osteoporosis and systemic connective tissue diseases.
- It most commonly affects the Joints, bones, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and muscles of individuals.
ii. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease, which means the immune system attacks healthy cells in the body by mistake, causing inflammation (painful swelling) in the affected parts of the body.
iii. As per the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s report, close to 14 million people around the world have RA. As per a 2021 news report, 1.3 crore people in India suffer from RA.
About Arthritis:Â
The term Arthritis refers to inflammation of the joints and its effects which has more than 100 types but Osteoarthritis and RA are the most common types.
- This could affect people of all ages including children and teenagers.
About the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR):
EULAR is the European umbrella organisation representing scientific societies, health professional associations and organisations for people with RMDs.
President- Professor Annamaria Iagnocco (Italy)
Headquarters- Zürich, Switzerland
