Standing Committee of Paediatric Rheumatology

Mission and setup

The mission of the Paediatric Standing Committee of EULAR is to improve the care for children with rheumatic diseases in Europe. For this mission the standing committee aims to describe the importance of paediatric rheumatic diseases and to publicise this growing field. We are also trying to publicise the importance of rheumatic diseases in children and their impact on the lives of these young individuals, their families and the society and the need for effective management. Recognition as a separate discipline is necessary to address the needs of the field for paediatric rheumatology.

The standing committee also acts as a bridge and establishes the link between EULAR as the major organisation of rheumatology in Europe, and the Paediatric Rheumatology European Society (PRES). The relationship between PRES and EULAR needs to be improved for the benefit of both organisations.

The Standing Committee for Paediatric Rheumatology, as a part of the scientific committee of EULAR, is responsible for convening the “paediatric” sessions in the EULAR annual congress. It is the responsibility of the committee to convene up-to-date scientific sessions that will be of interest to adult rheumatologists as well.

Currently, the joint EULAR-PRES meetings are held every three years. The last joint meeting in Amsterdam has been a great success and was greatly appreciated by all paediatric rheumatologists. We have succeeded in establishing a good scientific programme covering both basic and clinical science directed to both paediatricians and internists caring for paediatric rheumatic diseases. Sponsorship for attending the EULAR meetings remains a problem for paediatricians as they are currently rarely sponsored. In the future, these joint meetings could be planned more often. If so, the scientific committee for paediatrics in these joint congresses may need to be re-considered and the applications of ACR may constitute an example.

RELATED INFORMATION

Other related organisations

The standing committee carries out its task in close co-operation with the related European paediatric rheumatology organisations such as Paediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organisation (PRINTO). Most of the national representatives of the Standing Committee are also members and/or active participants in the activities of these organisations. 

Read more on these websites:
www.pres.org.uk
www.printo.it