Arthritis. Doesn’t Discriminate.

MEDIA RELEASE ISSUED BY ARTHRITIS NEW ZEALAND
Monday 11 October 2010

Arthritis. Doesn’t Discriminate.

530,000 New Zealanders are currently living with at least one type of arthritis.

Tuesday 12 October, 2010 marks World Arthritis Day, and Arthritis New Zealand wants New Zealanders to consider how this chronic condition affects the young and old and how much of an impact arthritis has on a person’s life and the wider New Zealand community.

Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in New Zealand with health costs equal to those of diabetes, and yet it’s still not considered a health priority in New Zealand.

Arthritis New Zealand Chief Executive, Sandra Kirby knows how damaging arthritis can be to a person’s life: “Time and time again we hear arthritis incorrectly referred to as an ‘old person’s disease’. This is simply not true.

This painful and often debilitating disease does not discriminate between age groups. Try telling a parent whose 18 month year old baby has just been diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis that it’s an old person disease.

The burden of arthritis on the New Zealand community is massive. Our research confirms that half of the people in New Zealand with arthritis are of working age. If we really want to improve the economic outlook for New Zealand, we must make arthritis a national health priority so those who suffer from it are granted access to specialists and the right treatment options.

In most cases, there are steps that can be taken to help self-manage a person’s arthritis. That is what we are here to do, to equip arthritis sufferers with tools to help control their arthritis rather than have their arthritis control them.”

Arthritis New Zealand provides services for people with arthritis based on the proven principles of self management, which provides the potential to substantially reduce the costs of the disease as well as improving the quality of life for people with arthritis.

With the charity only receiving 12% funding from the government, they rely heavily on the generosity of New Zealand’s public. If you like to donate to Arthritis New Zealand, please call 0900 333 20 or visit www.arthritis.org.nz

ENDS

Notes to editors:
- To see what the rest of the world is doing for World Arthritis day, please visit:
www.worldarthritisday-events.org/2010
- Of the 530,000 living with arthritis, over half are female and are of working age (15-64 years).
- In addition, the burden of disease – the years of healthy life lost because of arthritis – is estimated as 21,491 Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) in 2010.
- People with arthritis are 5% less likely to be employed than those without arthritis, based on New Zealand Health Survey data.
- Over 25,000 New Zealanders will not work in 2010 due to arthritis, costing around $1.48 billion in lost productivity in 2010.
- Health sector costs of arthritis are estimated to be $695m in 2010, 22% of total financial costs.
- Hospital costs represent around one third of health sector costs ($237m).
- Public inpatient costs are 42% of hospital costs, and are dominated by osteoarthritic knee and hip surgeries.
- Pathology and imaging together are estimated to be 12% of health sector costs.
- The indirect costs of arthritis ($2.50bn) outweigh health costs around 3.6 to 1
- For more information on Arthritis New Zealand, please visit www.arthritis.org.nz

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