The largest-ever Australian delegation helped make the Japan congress the biggest in APLAR history.
The Asia-Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology Congress 2025 ended last month with a remarkable milestone – the largest Australian delegation ever, with some 150 rheumatologists in attendance.
But it wasn’t only an Australian record for the 27th annual conference that was held at the Fukuoka International Congress Center in Japan.
The event saw attracted more than 2500 participants from 68 countries and 1900 abstract submissions, making it the largest congress ever, according to APLAR.
Dr Sam Whittle, Australian Rheumatology Association president and APLAR director and Finance Committee co-chairperson told Rheumatology Republic it was a great meeting.
“I’ve been a big supporter and fan of APLAR for as long as I can remember, so I love it, and I’ve been to lots of APLAR congresses,” he said.
“The standout thing for me this year was, that was the number of Australian attendees, which is the highest it’s ever been, by an absolute mile.”
He said Australian rheumatologists appreciate the value of our congress and the fact that it had evolved into a “truly international meeting”.
“But I think there are other factors,” he said.
“I think there’s a general reluctance for people to travel to the US, and Japan is a really popular place to travel at the moment.”
Dr Whittle said he hoped the huge turnout – about three times higher than at any previous APLAR congress – would continue as more Australian rheumatologists recognised it with a “sense of ownership” and saw its offerings were on par with any other international meeting.
“I think it’s a much more internationally visible meeting now than it has been in the past,” he told RR.
“Broadly speaking, I think the way our plan has gone about building this congress over time has been quite astute in that they’ve always invited lots of prominent international speakers, which is a really good way of attracting people who want to get that educational content from the sort of key opinion leaders.
“And the quality and volume of science that’s going to be done in the APLAR region is going to continue to increase. All of us stakeholders in APLAR should believe that APLA APLAR ought to become the premier international league.
“More than half the world’s population lives in the APLAR region so it makes sense.”
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APLAR as it is known today, was established in 1963 in Sydney when Australia, India, Japan and New Zealand formed the South East APLAR (SEAPAL).
The first Congress was held in 1968 at the renowned Taj Mahal Hotel in India and from there SEAPAL grew from strength to strength with many more participating nations joining the league, which later changed its name to APLAR.
What began with four founding nations now includes 32 national rheumatology association members.
The geographical region covered by APLAR reaches from New Zealand in Oceania to Jordan in the Middle East. The APLAR network of national associations represents 25,000-plus rheumatologists.
Dr Whittle said one of the other standouts of the congress was the involvement of the ARA’s early career group, including Australian Young Rheumatologist Ambassador (YRA) for APLAR Dr Anna Kermond.
“We’ve got such a such a vibrant early careers group in ARA and to have them now properly plugged into AYR, is great because the educational opportunities are excellent and the networking stuff is great,” he said.
“I think we’re finally taking our place in Asia Pacific, even though we were a founding member of APLAR when it was SEAPAL. I really hope the momentum grows.”
He wants to see that momentum grow in the coming years ahead of the congress being held in Melbourne in 2028. The next APLAR Congress will be held in Korea from 28 October to 1 November 2026.
