by Adrian Bradley, CEO, Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA)
Publishing a new strategy is always a moment to pause. Not just to look ahead, but to reflect on why the choices you’re making matter and why now is the right time to be ambitious.
ARMA’s new strategy is grounded in a simple but powerful truth: there are 20 million reasons to act. Over 20 million people in the UK live with a musculoskeletal condition. Each one is a reason – a person with a life, a job, a family, ambitions and frustrations – whose experience of pain, mobility and independence is too often overlooked in public policy.
This strategy sets out our ambition to change that. It reflects a growing recognition that MSK health is not a niche or trivial issue. It sits at the heart of prevention, healthy ageing, economic participation and tackling health inequalities. When MSK health is neglected, the consequences ripple across the system: people leave work early, waiting lists grow, independence is lost, and pressure mounts elsewhere in health and care.
But this strategy is not just a diagnosis of the problem. It is a statement of intent.
Over the next five years, ARMA will be bolder in making the case for MSK health as a national priority. We will champion prevention and early intervention across the life course. We will argue for neighbourhood based MSK support that connects clinical care with community assets. We will push for MSK health to be embedded in work and health policy, not treated as an afterthought. And we will continue to challenge inequalities in access, experience and outcomes.
Central to all of this is our role as an alliance. ARMA does not deliver services and it does not speak for just one voice. Our strength lies in convening, collaborating and campaigning, bringing together patient organisations, professional bodies, researchers and partners around shared goals. This strategy reflects that collective spirit. It has been shaped by listening, debate and a willingness to be challenged.
20 Million Reasons is not just a campaign strapline. It is a reminder of scale, urgency and responsibility. I am one of the 20 million. You probably are too. We all have our story to tell. One person’s pain is personal; 20 million people affected is a national issue.
Our ambition is to ensure that decision makers see it that way and act accordingly.
This strategy sets a clear direction. The work ahead will be demanding, and progress will require persistence, partnership and confidence. But ARMA is ready. We are in a strong place as an organisation, and we are part of a powerful, diverse alliance.
The next chapter is about turning reasons into results.