On 12 October 2014, World Arthritis Day will be celebrated around the globe.

The day was first observed in 1996 by Arthritis Rheumatism International and is now a worldwide event, bringing arthritis sufferers together to get their voices heard!

World Arthritis Day aims to raise awareness of the condition and make sure that sufferers and caregivers know all the support and help that is available to them.

The day is run in partnership with the European League Against Rheumatism, who represent patients, health professionals and rheumatology researchers from around the EU.  They aim to reduce the burden of this condition on individuals and society.

In 2003 the World Arthritis Day website was set up to provide an informative resource for the campaign and for organisations who represent people with arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases.

Every one to two years a new theme is chosen for the day and in 2012 the theme was ‘Move to Improve’ and on 12 October the campaign ‘Waving for World Arthritis Day’ encouraged people to wave in support of the day.  An amazing 65,000 people in more than 70 countries participated and posted their ‘waving’ photos on the website making this a very successful campaign.

The awareness day looks set to have even more going on in 2014, and you can even hold your own event.

To register and find our more, visit the World Arthritis Day website.   You can also read lots of information about the symptoms of arthritis and arthritis care.