The Arthritis Foundation holds the Annual Arthritis Walk to raise funds for the cause and to promote awareness of the nation’s number one disability that impact 50 million Americans. It is the nation’s most common disability. Approximately 9,000 Americans die from the disability every year. More than half who suffer from the disability also suffer from heart disease and diabetes.
The Arthritis Foundation is the nation’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to find a cure for the number one joint pain disability in the United States.
Since its inception in 1948 as the Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation and renamed in 1964 as the Arthritis Foundation, this is the largest contributor for arthritis research in the United States and other parts of the world. It raises funds through annual walks, dinners, galas and other events. Every year the Arthritis Foundation supporters gather in Washington, D.C. to lobby the Congress to promote its causes. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia the foundation has approximately 50 local offices in ten regions.
Many types of arthritis including Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis and others cost over $128 billion a year to the nation for treatment, due to loss of work and productivity and other economic hardships.