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Notice to Readers: National Arthritis Month --- May 2002
May is National Arthritis Month. Systemic lupus erythematosus, one of more than 100 arthritis and rheumatic
conditions, is a chronic and potentially life-threatening inflammatory disease that can affect various parts of the body, especially the
skin, joints, blood, and kidneys. Arthritis and other rheumatic conditions are the leading cause of disability in the United
States, affecting approximately 43 million persons in 1997 and possibly 60 million by 2020
(1,2). Early diagnosis and appropriate management are needed for better control of arthritis. CDC, the Arthritis Foundation, the Lupus Foundation of
America, and other organizations continue to work to meet the goals of the National Arthritis Action Plan: A Public Health
Strategy (3) and the arthritis-related national health objectives for 2010
(4).
Additional information about arthritis, National Arthritis Month, Arthritis Action Day, the National Arthritis Action
Plan, and local Arthritis Foundation programs and services is available from the Arthritis Foundation, telephone 800-283-7800,
or at http://www.arthritis.org. Information about systemic lupus erythematosus, patient education programs, and
support services is available from the Lupus Foundation of America, telephone 800-558-0121, or at
http://www.lupus.org.
Arthritis Foundation, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, and CDC. National arthritis action plan: a public health strategy.
Atlanta, Georgia: Arthritis Foundation, 1999.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy people 2010 (conference ed., 2 vols). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, 2000.
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Health and Human Services.References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply
endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
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