Dear friends and esteemed members of the IRA,

Greetings! IRA e-Newsletter is an attempt to reach out to our members, giving them the latest developments in our field in an easily readable format. Also, it is a tool to inform members of any information from the IRA central body. Recognizing the importance of work-life balance, the IRA e-Newsletter has been publishing non-academic articles, stressing poetry and other hobbies. Dr Vinod Ravindran, the editor along with his team of executive editors has introduced quite a few new features. They have been very well received. They have come out with a unique idea of publishing the e-Newsletter in an easily readable Tabloid format as a PDF document. I feel it will improve the readership and can be circulated through many channels. Please give your feedback on this effort. This will help us to decide whether it can be a long-term project.

World arthritis day is being observed on October 12th. I request state chapters and all the individual members to do as many activities as possible all over the country in a coordinated way. Public and Physician awareness is an essential goal of the IRA. This edition will be the last issue published during my presidential tenure. I and the Executive committee have tried our best to introduce a few new activities. We have been observing all the disease-specific days together with much enthusiasm. To familiarise the terms Rheumatic diseases and Rheumatology amongst the public, we have decided to observe Rheumatic Diseases Awareness Month, every year during April. The attempts were very successful in the last two years. Thank you for the enthusiastic adaptation of this concept. We continue to do monthly online meetings, organised by our secretary aptly named IRA-Virtual Connect. We also have initiated a project to document the life and tribulations of the founding fathers of Indian Rheumatology in the form of video interviews. I had the opportunity to visit many cities and state chapters and share all the love and affection. We have also formed a loose confederation with various patient support groups and act as their knowledge partners and support them in their efforts for better insurance and government support. We have decided to have an IRA museum at the IRA House in New Delhi.

Enjoy reading the e-Newsletter in the new format. Happy learning! See you all in Hyderabad in November!

Long Live IRA

Thank You,

B G Dharmanand