The future of ILAR

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AbbreviationsACR American College of RheumatologyAFLAR African League Against RheumatismAPLAR Asia Pacific League of Associationsfor RheumatologyCOPCORD Community Oriented Program for Controlof Rheumatic DiseasesEULAR European League of Associationsof RheumatologyOMERACT Outcome Measures for Arthritis ClinicalTrialsPANLAR Pan-American League of Associationsfor RheumatologyFaced with the choice between adaptation and extinction,ILAR has, in the past 2 years, undergone a fundamentalmetamorphosis. Even ILAR’s name is new, albeit with thesame initials. No longer the International League AgainstRheumatism, ILAR is now the International League ofAssociations of Rheumatology. From my perspective asChair of ILAR’s Executive Committee in 2008, I will reviewrecent progress and future prospects for the new ILAR.The initial entity that later evolved into ILAR wasknown as The International Committee on Rheumatism,and its formation, in 1927, at the International Society ofHydrology meeting in Paris, preceded the existence ofnational and regional rheumatology societies or leagues [1].The first President of this new organization was Dr. JFortescue Fox of London, England—who is not, to myknowledge, one of my biological ancestors even though hecan be viewed as one of my professional forefathers! Anoffice was opened in Amsterdam and within a year a newname was adopted—le Ligue International contre leRheumatisme. The first journal published by ILAR wasActa Rheumatologica [1]. For decades the ILAR meetingswere the primary forum for the international exchange ofscientific and clinical information in the field of rheuma-tology. ILAR developed a productive relationship with theWorld Health Organization, and more recently with theBone and Joint Decade and with OMERACT [2, 3].Importantly, ILAR helped sponsor the COPCORD network,which has conducted community-based studies of theprevalence of rheumatic diseases in many parts of thedeveloping world [2]. In several countries the onlyavailable data concerning the epidemiology of arthritis hasbeen generated by COPCORD.More recently, however, interest in and support for theILAR meetings waned, as both the ACR and the EULARcongresses grew larger and more international in scope.Fortunately, the publication of Clinical Rheumatology,ILAR’s current journal, has continued without interruption,and this may indeed have saved ILAR from disappearingentirely.After 2 years of planning, 2008 saw the implementationof a new structure and mission for ILAR. The governanceof ILAR has been streamlined and is centered on anExecutive Committee that is comprised of the President andPresident-Elect of five rheumatology organizations:AFLAR, APLAR, EULAR, PANLAR (the four regionalleagues), and the ACR. The Chair position rotates annually,to ensure an equal role for each member organization. TheExecutive committee meets twice each year: in early Juneat the EULAR congress and in the fall at the ACR meeting.