Juvenile Arthritis Campaign launched to raise awareness about arthritis

Nov 18 2014

Arthritis & Osteoporosis NSW has recently launched the Juvenile Arthritis Campaign aimed at raising much needed awareness and funds for the thousands of children struggling with arthritis throughout NSW. More than 6,000 children live with the condition and there are many more yet to be diagnosed.

Our supporters have been asked to take up the fight and support children with arthritis. We have mobilised our entire network to join our campaign and put this crucial health issue in the spotlight.

With just 2 full-time paediatric rheumatologists currently serving the children of our state, NSW has fallen well behind NSW Health standards and national and international benchmarks. The level of care for juvenile arthritis means that NSW is the worst performing state in Australia.

With a health system ill-equipped and underfunded, urgent action needs to be taken to address this issue. Currently, there is not enough paediatric rheumatologists to train new staff and it requires interstate or overseas trips. There is also not enough staff to be on call in hospitals and there are serious delays in seeing specialists for some of our youngest and most vulnerable members.

Jannine Jackson, CEO of Arthritis & Osteoporosis NSW is proud to launch our Juvenile Arthritis Campaign to address the alarming situation in NSW.

“The level of paediatric rheumatology in NSW is disturbing and Arthritis & Osteoporosis NSW is determined to improve care for our children and dramatically increase the level of funding and resources allocated to this area.

“Quite simply, our children need better care and our Juvenile Arthritis Campaign is our first step in a concerted campaign to draw attention to a critical health issue. If paediatric rheumatology in NSW isn’t given the resources and funding required, thousands of children struggling with their condition will live in pain and could develop life-long complications. The long-term costs to the NSW health system will be enormous.

“We are calling on our supporters and the wider community to join us and get involved as we demand better services for the thousands of kids in NSW with arthritis,” said Jannine.