Raising arthritis awareness one person at a time

It’s September once again, which can mean only one thing. It’s arthritis awareness month. Another year has flown by and again I’m struck by how much more needs to be done to raise the level of awareness of this serious disease. Many of us are confronted by the lack of public knowledge when it comes to people’s understanding of arthritis and we are constantly trying to dispel the stereotypes, which are associated with arthritis. You know the ones, like only old people get arthritis, or it’s only aches and pains.

CAPA has been working hard since it’s inception to educate the public about arthritis and this year has been no exception. We have been very active attending government meetings, bringing the experience of living with arthritis and what it means to those that make decisions about us. We have written the new health minister, not only attended but have presented at the Canadian Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada, the Canadian Agency of Health and Technologies, and the Integrated Health Networks conference. CAPA is involved on the Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics, and was integral to The Patented Medicines Review Board Working Group on defining Therapeutic Improvement. The 2008 Annual Report gives an overview of our activity and our goals for 2009.

Now that you’ve heard what we’ve been doing it’s your turn to help educate others around you about arthritis. One of the most effective methods of all has been educating individuals one by one be they at the workplace, on the street, in your home, in conferences or anywhere there’s a listening ear. Winning them to the cause one by one by letting them know the ugly truth about living with arthritis. That some of us use chemotherapy and powerful TNF drugs, that we lose our independence, that we live in constant pain without relief, that some us of are poor because we are unemployed or underemployed because of our disease, that some forms of arthritis have no effective treatments, that arthritis is the number one leading cause of chronic illness in children, that we often receive a delayed diagnosis and poor treatment, or that some of us will die due to – yes - Arthritis. First we must admit these truths to ourselves and only then we will be able to convince others that arthritis is serious and not a natural process of aging. We must come out of the closet and rally together.

Imagine the revolution if 5 million people who have arthritis in Canada educate only 4 people in their immediate circle, this would mean 20 million people in Canada would know the truth about arthritis and the truth shall release us from the perpetuation of the stereotypes and misconceptions about arthritis which we deal with every day. Only then will this disease be taken seriously.