It's World Arthritis Day on Sunday, and this year's theme is 'think positive.'
But Sandra Kirby of Arthritis New Zealand says it's easier said than done for a lot of sufferers, noting there is a chronic lack of subsidised drugs for certain types of the disease.
Kirby says the drugs cost around $20,000 a year. She notes the current budget for Pharmac, the government drug buying agency, doesn't allow for certain medications to be subsidised.
She says most people who get forms of arthritis which do not qualify for subsidised drugs are of working age, and cannot afford the medication on their own.
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Arthritis New Zealand says the disease is the single biggest cause of disability in the country, and affects more than half a million people.
