Projects

  This year, World Arthritis Day is asking people to share their stories about how they have taken action to live their life to the fullest with a rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease (RMD)  -  to provide greater education to people both within the RMD community and the general public. The objectives for the 2016 World Arthritis Day campaign are to:

• Educate people with RMDs and carers to understand available treatment options and utilize support networks.
• Educate healthcare teams on the importance of early diagnosis, the treatment outcomes valued by patients in addition to clinical outcomes, and how care can be optimized to meet individual patient needs.
• Ensure policy makers understand the full extent of RMD impact on people and society, and solutions that are needed to lessen that impact.

For World Arthritis Day 2016 we are asking people to take action by sharing their written story with an accompanying image or an Instagram video of their hands via the World Arthritis Day website or social media until 29 July, 2016. Share your story via social media, using the hashtag #WADStory, or upload your story directly to the World Arthritis Day website.

The Edgar Stene competition is organised by the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) and involves writing an essay on a particular topic to do with living with a rheumatic condition. It was set up in honour of the late Edgar Stene who suffered from severe ankylosing spondylitis and was a great promoter of co-operation between doctors, patients and community workers.

This year the essay title is:

“Vision 2043 – my ideal world for people with a rheumatic or

musculoskeletal disease”

The essay should be about changes you would like to see to improve the lives and to create a better world for people with RMDs in the future. These changes could include social attitudes, health and social care, the environment, travel and work opportunities. Some changes will take longer to come about than others, so the deadline is set up for our vision for a better future in the year 2043. This competition will provide many inspiring visions for what life could look like for people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases by 2043. People with a rheumatic or musculoskeletal disease (minimum 16 years of age), are encouraged to submit an essay not exceeding 2 pages of A4 (Arial 12 point, single line space, adequate frames) in Maltese or English e-mailed to aramalta@gmail.com by 31^st December 2013. The winner will be announced by the 15^th March 2014, by the EULAR jury. The Stene Prize winner will be awarded €2000 and invited to attend the Opening Plenary Session of the EULAR Congress in Paris on 11^th June 2014. EULAR provides the winner with travel to Paris and hotel accommodation in Paris for up to 4 nights as well as an invitation to the Congress Dinner. 2013 winner was Mette Toft of Denmark, with the title "Growing up or growing older - my secret for healthy ageing with a rheumatic or musculoskeletal disease". You can read and see the style of her winning essay by going to website: http://www.eular.org/ clicking on Awards and choosing the Edgar Stene award.