‘Don’t Delay, Connect Today’ campaign
calls for earlier diagnosis, treatment
People with rheumatic and muscu- loskeletal diseases (RMDs) often go undiagnosed for years, missing
a critical window for early intervention. A new EULAR campaign will
help rheumatologists, general practitioners, policymakers, and patients
change that.
Dubbed “Don’t Delay, Con-
nect Today” the campaign calls on
stakeholders to work together to
hasten both diagnosis and access to
evidence-based treatments, EULAR
President Gerd R. Burmester said in
an interview. “The overall goal of the
campaign is to highlight RMDs as
major diseases and as a public health
concern of pandemic proportions,”
he added. “By connecting everyone
working in RMDs – from health pro-
fessional and physician associations,
to patient groups – to work toward
a united goal, ‘Don’t Delay, Connect
Today’ can build a strong platform to
achieve positive change.”
Robust evidence now indicates that
early treatment of several RMDs in-
creases the chances that patients will
either achieve remission or maintain
a low level of disease activity, thereby
preventing damage to joints and or-
gans, Prof. Burmester noted. “Many
disabling and often deadly diseases
from earlier years have become man-
ageable in a way that allows affected
individuals to lead an almost normal
life,” he said.
But too often, this possibility re-
mains out of reach. Recent data from
Germany indicate that patients con-
tinue to average more than 4 years
between RMD symptom onset and
PARE. “This delay prevents access
to optimal treatment and may cause
harm that is irreversible,” he em-
phasised. Delayed treatment also
leads to higher rates of absentee-
ism and earlier retirement, which
creates “huge” financial burdens
for individuals and countries, he
added. “Considering that thera-
pies are available, we must do
everything we can to prevent this
delay.”
Accordingly, officials highlighted
the “Don’t Delay, Connect Today”
message at a precongress event in
Madrid and again during several
roundtables for policymakers and
politicians. In Madrid, “Don’t Delay”
will receive attention at the opening
ceremony and in several sessions. A
joint session for scientists, clinicians,
and people with RMDs will cover strat-
egies for expediting diagnosis despite
limited rheumatologic resources, ways
that general practitioners and physio-
therapists can support faster, accurate
diagnosis, and how national organisa-
tions can join the campaign and help
spread its message. Also, a PARE pro-
gramme session entitled “Difficult to
reach patient groups” will explore risk
factors and solutions for limited access
to RMD care, Mr. Wiek said.
The launch of “Don’t Delay, Con-
nect Today” coincides with EULAR’s
anniversary, which celebrates 70 years
of research and collaboration among
physicians, health professionals, and
the patient network (PARE), said
EULAR President-Elect Johannes
Bijlsma. “For all three pillars of
EULAR – physicians, patients, and
health professionals – there will be spe-
cific tool kits presented in Madrid to
enforce the “Don’t Delay” message in
different contexts,” he added.
The work will continue after Madrid. On 12 October, World Arthritis
Day in Brussels “will provide a strong
European platform for debate on this
topic,” as well as an official video release and social media support, Prof.
Burmester said. Also, during the last
half of 2017, several webinars will
explore best practices for implementing the campaign and involving PARE,
health professionals, and scientific societies, he added. “We are encouraging
all national societies in rheumatology
to attend the webinars and to work to
find ways to implement this campaign
at the national level.” n
Prof. Johannes Bijlsma
