Rheumatoid arthritis management in the APLAR region: Perspectives from an expert panel of rheumatologists, patients and community oriented program for control of rheumatic diseases.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a major health burden in Asia Pacific affecting the quality of life of patients and consuming healthcare resources. According to recent estimates from the World Health Organization-International League Against Rheumatism-Community Oriented Program for Control of Rheumatic Diseases, prevalence is around 0.3%-0.5%. Management guidelines have helped to improve treatment across this diverse region. To gain better insight into current real-world management applications in view of these guidelines, virtual meetings were conducted in mid-2020 to explore perspectives of rheumatologists and patients, as well as discuss the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on RA management. Patients and rheumatologists from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, India, Pakistan, and Taiwan were included, representing a diverse mix of healthcare systems, wealth, ethnicity and culture. Despite many countries having prospered in recent years, similar challenges in RA diagnosis and treatment were identified. The daily impact and patient experience of RA were also similar across countries, marked by "silent" pain and disability, and universal misunderstanding of the disease. Late diagnosis and treatment, and barriers to access to appropriate treatment, remain problematic. The experience shared by Taiwan offers a glimmer of hope, however, wherein patient advocacy groups have succeeded in being included in policy-making decisions and securing access to advanced treatment. Real-world solutions that pay heed to the unique local needs and diversity of Asia Pacific are required to improve RA management, which will take time. In the interim, help can be sought from the trained, non-rheumatologist community to reduce some of the disease burden.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) Regarding the Prevention against COVID-19 Infection at the Outset of Outbreak in Pakistan Amongst Smart Phone Users

Background and Objective: At the outset of outbreak of Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) infection in Pakistan, there had been a lot of confusion regarding the preventive measures in general public. The objective of current study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding the home preventive measures against COVID-19 infection amongst smart phone users at the outset of outbreak in Pakistan. Methods: It was a cross-sectional online survey to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice amongst the smart phone users regarding the preventive measures against Corona infection. Total 388 questionnaires were submitted in one week in first week of April 2020. The data was collected through online questionnaire which were disseminated through WhatsApp groups. The completed questionnaires were compiled and analysed by using SPSS software version 21. Frequencies of responses were calculated. Results: A total of 196 (50.5%) participant were in the age category of 17-25 years with female predominance. Three hundred and 66 (94.3%) preferred washing hands with soap and water for 20 or more seconds, two thirds of the participants also agreed on the role of sanitizers. Only 159 (41%) knew what social distancing meant. Regarding the disinfection of eatable and non-eatable, almost half of the participants agreed to use soap and water. Considering the most effective disinfectant, 225 (43.8%) preferred Dettol. Surgical mask and N-95 masks were considered the effective ways to avoid droplet infections. Regarding the survival of the virus in different media, majority of the responses were completely ignorant. Conclusion: There are still gaps in knowledge, attitude and practices regarding prevention against Coronavirus infection at the outset of this out-break in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Biomedica is the property of Knowledge Bylanes and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)