Abstract

About 300 million people worldwide are affected by rheumatic diseases and over 5 and a half million men and women affected by rheumatological diseases are present in Italy. These are chronic diseases and therefore require treatment and diagnostic tests for long periods of time. Patient needs must be met even in these difficult months marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The guarantee of therapeutic continuity is important and increasingly dangerous is the lack of many drugs. This is because many antimalarial and anti-inflammatory drugs have entered the protocols for treatment from Sars Cov 2. Without taking these medicines, which for years have also been used in rheumatology, there is a risk of reactivating serious diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis or systemic Lupus erythematosus.