PAFLAR End of Year 2021 Message

Dear All,

On behalf of the PAFLAR Board, I would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all our members and partners who have supported PAFLAR’s initiatives and activities during the year 2021. It has been a dynamic year but we have worked seamlessly together as we strive to achieve our mission to improve the healthcare of children with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases in Africa through raising awareness, advocacy, education, research, formulation and enactment of policies that promotes their growth, development, survival and overall well-being”.

Some of our greatest achievements in line with this mission were our PAFLAR-JIR collaboration that resulted in over 100 clinicians across Africa participating in the educational JIR Winter School 2021 and monthly webinars. We held our premiere virtual congress with over 700 registered participants from over 60 countries that culminated in the publication of research work by 300+ upcoming researchers from Africa (https://academic.oup.com/rheumatology/issue-pdf/60/Supplement_5/41125295). We had the privilege to hold our first virtual pan-african patient advocacy world arthritis day celebrations (https://paflar.org/activity/world-arthritis-day). We appreciate you All for your dedication and commitment towards achieving our mission.

We look forward to a prosperous 2022 as we strive to strengthen our networks and partnerships while upholding our core values of commitment, honesty, inclusivity, accountability, innovation, quality and excellence to promote equal access to quality pediatric rheumatology healthcare for children in Africa and across the globe. We believe we are stronger together and that we are capable of great things as we strive to work together in synchrony and overcome challenges that may come our way.

We wish you All a Merry Christmas and a Happy Prosperous 2022 full of hope, joy, optimism, good health and great tidings.

Kind regards,
Dr Angela Migowa
President of PAFLAR.