New U.S. Plan to Focus Efforts to Fight Rheumatoid Arthritis

A new U.S. government plan will guide efforts to understand the causes of and develop treatments and prevention strategies for rheumatoid arthritis and a variety of other autoimmune disorders

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the plan provides specific recommendations on future research directions and demonstrates the agency's commitment to continue a "robust" program of autoimmune disease research. The plan also calls for educating the medical community and the public about autoimmune diseases.

Dr. Elias Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), said the plan highlights many unprecedented opportunities to increase understanding of autoimmune diseases at various levels. Ultimately, he said the effort would translate new knowledge into more effective treatments and prevention strategies.

Besides rheumatoid arthritis, other well known autoimmune disorders include multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes and systemic lupus.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said the NIH is committed to addressing this health disparity involving these diseases since most of them disproportionately affect women.

The plan was created at the request of Congress as part of the Children's Health Act of 2000, and it was prepared by the NIH Autoimmune Diseases Coordinating Committee, a body of government and outside experts under the direction of NIAID.

Other sources: National Institutes of Health