News & Comment

The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled the global community to work together to understand SARS-CoV-2 and mitigate its effects, but it has also highlighted health disparities faced by people from minority racial or ethnic groups and other marginalized populations. International collaboration needs to be leveraged to address these disparities and inequities.

To gauge the relative efficacy of treatments, authors of review articles and commentary might attempt to compare results across clinical trials, but failure to recognize inherent differences across studies or apply proper statistical principles could yield flawed conclusions. Several approaches can mitigate the risks in these cross-trial comparisons.

Physical inactivity is common during periods of self-isolation, but for patients with rheumatic diseases, there are crucial benefits to be gained from maintaining an active lifestyle throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients should be provided with support to maintain physical activity and avoid prolonged periods of time spent sitting.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to severely affect those with rheumatic diseases or who are taking immunosuppressive therapies. Information is lacking as to how these groups will fare if they become infected. A global alliance has rapidly formed to try to address this information deficit.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Essential Medicines List (EML) informs policy makers about which medications should be prioritized and is particularly important for countries with limited resources. However, the EML lacks vital medicines used in paediatric rheumatology, the inclusion of which could transform the lives of many children around the world.