EULAR, like the ACR, is interested in the development of up-to-date disease classification criteria, activity measures, treatment response indices, and therapeutic guidelines. The leadership of both organizations has realized that, whenever possible, the ACR and EULAR should look for opportunities to collaborate in these projects. The distinct patterns of clinical practice on the two sides of the Atlantic and the differences in available or approved drugs are obstacles to the development of uniform disease treatment algorithms. But in all other categories of criteria there are clear and compelling reasons to work together, most notably the need to avoid the confusion that is engendered when competing criteria sets exist.
Several joint projects are underway, guided by rules and procedures that EULAR and the ACR have been working hard to optimize. The products of these collaborations will be published simultaneously in Arthritis Care & Research and in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, some as EULAR/ACR criteria and others as ACR/EULAR criteria. This will include an updated version of the ACR criteria for the classification of rheumatoid arthritis, which will become the ACR/ EULAR criteria for the classification of rheumatoid arthritis. While some ACR members may wax nostalgic for the exclusive ACR name on these most important of disease classification criteria, let’s keep in mind that neither RA nor high-quality research on RA is confined to the United States.
ACR and ILAR
What about ILAR, which began as the International League Against Rheumatism and is now the International League of Associations of Rheumatology? What has happened to ILAR and to the ILAR meeting? At one time the ILAR meeting, held every four years, was the premier venue for bringing together rheumatologists from throughout the world, and ILAR was the representative of rheumatology to the World Health Organization. In a way, the demise of the ILAR meeting may be a reflection of the success of ILAR in accomplishing its goal. International collaboration is now routine, and a meeting every four years is not sufficient. Indeed, both the annual ACR meeting and the EULAR meeting have become full-fledged international meetings. A significant number of the abstracts submitted to the ACR meeting and a high proportion of those in attendance are from outside of the United States. With the decline of the ILAR meeting, an important source of funds for ILAR disappeared, and ILAR itself almost became extinct.
However, with a new vision for what it might be able to do, ILAR has been reorganized and redefined. No longer a league of the rheumatology organizations of each individual country, it is instead a collaborative association of the four regional rheumatology leagues—EULAR, the Pan-American League of Associations for Rheumatology (PANLAR), the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR), and the African League Against Rheumatism (APFLAR) and the ACR. The 10-member governing body of ILAR is composed of two officers of each of these five organizations. New articles of incorporation, bylaws, and, importantly, a conflict-of-interest policy, have been drawn up and signed. Staff support is now provided by the ACR office in Atlanta, and the process of re-incorporating ILAR is nearly complete.