The organization's main objective is to promote and advance the knowledge, education, research, and care in the field of rheumatology in the Americas.
PANLAR hosts various scientific meetings, workshops, and courses for healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients with rheumatic diseases.
Overall, PANLAR is committed to improving the quality of life for people with rheumatic diseases in the Americas through education, research, and advocacy.
PANLAR is organized through four geographical areas (1): Canada, Mexico, United States Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay In 1941, Dr. Aníbal Ruiz Moreno together with Dr. Fernando Herrera Ramos, submitted the idea of an ILAR regional league to Ralph Pemberton, then president of ILAR.
(2) A committee comprising doctors Russell Cecil, Robert Osgood, Ralph Boots, Loring Swain, Paul Holbrook, and future Nobel Prize winner Philip Hench gave its final agreement and, soon afterward, with support from physicians in Canada, Chile, Brazil, and Mexico, a path had been cleared to the creation of a society that grouped all rheumatologists in the continent.
The first Pan-American Congress of Rheumatology was held in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in 1955 at the Copacabana, it featured an audience of 239 from 15 countries and provided an image of high quality and excellent organization.
PANLAR continues to be a leading organization in the field of rheumatology, with a focus on promoting research, education, and advocacy in Latin America.
PANLAR also organizes an annual congress, which is the largest rheumatology event in the region and attracts a global audience of healthcare professionals, researchers, and patients."