Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology

Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR) is a federation of organisations of rheumatology. It was established in Sydney in 1963 and the first congress was held in 1968 in Mumbai at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

History
In 1961, the ILAR, International League of Associations of Rheumatology, authorised two Australian rheumatologists to initiate a regional league for Asia Pacific and the organisation, then called SEAPAL was founded in 1963 with four member nations, namely Australia, India, New Zealand and Japan with Dr S Nelson of Australia as the founder President. Over the years the organisation has grown to 27 members including China and Taiwan.

Organisation
APLAR is a confederation of individual Rheumatology Associations that represent different countries of the Asia-Pacific. The office bearers are nominated and elected by the individual member states. The executive consists of the President, Secretary General, Vice President, Treasurer, Deputy Secretary General, immediate past President, President Elect besides the Editor of the association journal (Int J of Rheum Dis). In addition there are subcommittees and special interest groups. The first President of then SEAPAL was Dr S Nelson from Australia while the current President of APLAR is Dr Syed Atiqul Haq from Bangladesh.

Affiliated National Organisations

 * Australian Rheumatology Association
 * Bangladesh Rheumatology Society
 * Chinese Rheumatology Association
 * Indian Rheumatology Association
 * Japan College of Rheumatology
 * Malaysian Society of Rheumatology
 * New Zealand Rheumatology Association
 * Pakistan Rheumatology Society
 * Sri Lanka Association of Rheumatology and Medical Rehabilitation
 * Taiwan Rheumatology Association
 * Tajikistan Rheumatology Society

Activities
APLAR is actively involved in promoting and nurturing national rheumatology societies in countries where rheumatologists are scarce. It has fostered COPCORD projects in several member countries in association with WHO and ILAR. APLAR has special interest groups in different rheumatic diseases and research areas. The most important activity of APLAR is the Annual Congress that is held in different Asian cities every year.

Congresses
The first SEAPAL Congress was held in 1968 at Mumbai, then Bombay which were held every four years until 2000 when the APLAR Congress became biennial until 2010 before switching to an annual rhythm. List of SEAPAL/APLAR Congresses
 * 1968	SEAPAL CONGRESS	Mumbai, India
 * 1972 	SEAPAL CONGRESS	Kyoto, Japan
 * 1976	SEAPAL CONGRESS	Singapore
 * 1980	SEAPAL CONGRESS	Manila, Philippines
 * 1984	SEAPAL CONGRESS	Bangkok, Thailand
 * 1988	SEAPAL CONGRESS	Tokyo, Japan
 * 1990	APLAR Symposium Seoul, South Korea
 * 1992	APLAR CONGRESS Bali, Indonesia
 * 1994	APLAR Symposium Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
 * 1996 	APLAR CONGRESS Melbourne, Australia
 * 1998	APLAR Symposium Manila, Philippines
 * 2000	APLAR CONGRESS Beijing, China (9th)
 * 2002	APLAR CONGRESS Bangkok, Thailand
 * 2004	APLAR CONGRESS Jeju Island, South Korea
 * 2006	APLAR CONGRESS Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
 * 2008	APLAR CONGRESS Yokohama, Japan
 * 2010	APLAR CONGRESS Hong Kong
 * 2011	APLAR Symposium Taipei, Taiwan
 * 2012	APLAR CONGRESS Amman, Dead Sea, Jordan
 * 2013	APLAR Symposium Bali, Indonesia
 * 2014	APLAR CONGRESS Cebu, Philippines
 * 2015	APLAR CONGRESS Chennai, India
 * 2016	APLAR CONGRESS Shanghai, China
 * 2017	APLAR CONGRESS	Dubai, U.A.E.
 * 2018	APLAR CONGRESS	Kaohsiung, Taiwan
 * 2019	APLAR CONGRESS	Brisbane, Australia
 * 2020	APLAR CONGRESS	Kyoto, Japan
 * 2021	APLAR CONGRESS	Virtual & Kyoto, Japan
 * 2022	APLAR CONGRESS	Hong Kong
 * 2023	APLAR CONGRESS	Chang Mai, Thailand
 * 2024	APLAR CONGRESS	Singapore

Journal
The league publishes its APLAR Journal of Rheumatology in the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases, a peer-reviewed medical journal.