LIRE has been giving voice and representing patients and associations in Spain for over 45 years in the fight against rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs). RMDs include more than 200 diseases that affect more than 120 million people of all ages in the EU and more than 10 million in Spain. Among the most common are low back pain, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, spondyloarthritis, osteoporosis, gout, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and rheumatic diseases in young people such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). At national level we have 50 member associations, we are integrated in the large state patient organizations and we collaborate with medical societies such as the Spanish Society of Rheumatology (SER) or the Spanish Society of Pediatric Rheumatology (SERPE), with non-medical professionals such as OpenReuma as well as with the agencies and public administrations at national, regional and local levels. We are also very present in Europe, being part of EULAR (The European League Against Rheumatism), ENCA (European Network for Children with Arthritis) and AGORA (Southern European Platform for Patients with RMDs). This allows us to create collaborative links in a common European framework. At LIRE we represent and defend the interests of people with RMDs and their families and act as interlocutors with public and private organisations, promoting the associative network and collaboration between member entities, collaborating with professionals, organisations and institutions, encouraging research and training in RMDs and promoting the functional rehabilitation and social, labour and educational inclusion of people with RMDs and social awareness to prevent their causes. Everything we do is based on the values that identify us: commitment to RMD patients and their families, transparency, collaboration and equality.
