Apni Jung

Apni Jung (translates to “Our Fight” in Hindi) is an initiative that aims to engage with RA patients within the UK South Asian community – encouraging them not just to seek medical help for their condition but also to gain an understanding about RA and the benefits of continuing to take prescribed medication to improve outcomes.

RA and COVID-19 Guidance (Punjabi)

Do you or someone you know have RA? Monica (Rheumatologist) and Kanta (Lecturer) talking about the importance of taking the COVID-19 vaccine.

COVID 19 info for South Asian communities

Video of a COVID-19 Q&A in Hindi, , to help members of the UK’s Asian community keep themselves and their families safe from COVID-19.

Early Inflammatory Arthritis Journey

These videos are about the early inflammatory arthritis journey from diagnosis to getting started on treatment and learning about the different team members and their roles within the Rheumatology Multi-disciplinary Team and how they can help you.

Example patient consultation by GP

GP Consultation between Dr. Faika Usman (GP) and Mrs. Fozia Hussain (patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis).

Information from Rheumatology Multi-Disciplinary Team

RA Diagnosis, Early Journey and Information from and about members of the Rheumatology Multi-Disciplinary Team Involved.




Cardiovascular Disease and RA

South Asians have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) while living with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). RA increases the risk of premature atherosclerosis in the South Asians. We have highlighted that patients of South Asian origin with RA had limited knowledge about CVD risk.

There is a need to educate the population about CVD risk but limited culturally sensitive interventions exists in rheumatology.  

By working with patient partners, the team culturally adapted a cognitive behavioural patient education intervention which was trialled with White British patients, you can read the academic paper here.

The intervention was adapted to meet the specific cultural needs of the South Asian population. The twenty-five minute online educational video illustrates the key messages with pictorial diagrams.

    • Dr Kanta Kumar, University of Birmingham, UK

    • Ruman Tiwana, University if Birmingham, UK

    • Dr Dilsher Singh, Belluve Medical Centre, Birmingham UK

    • Durga Prasanna Mirsa, Sanjay Ghandi, Lucknow, India

    • Afshan Salim, Belluve Medical Centre, Birmingham UK

    • Faika Usman, Belluve Medical Centre, Birmingham UK

    • Holly John, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, Dudley, UK

    • George Kitas, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, Dudley, UK

    • Sheila Greenfield, University of Birmingham, UK

    • Prem Kumar, University of Birmingham, UK

    • Clare Ray, University of Birmingham, UK

    • Ailsa Bosworth, National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, UK

    • Ayesha Ahmad, Volunteer for National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, UK

    • Joti Reehal, Volunteer for National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, UK

Meri Sehat, Mere Rules (My Health, My Rules)

CVD risk awareness educational video in Hindi for people of South Asian origin living with rheumatoid arthritis /SLE

Here is a PDF transcription in English for non-Hindi speaking health professionals and family members.


Apni Jung translates to ‘Our Fight’ in Hindi, against rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

For some time now NRAS and our Health Professional Medical Advisor in this field, Dr Kanta Kumar, (Lecturer at Birmingham University and Researcher at The Kellgren Centre for Rheumatology, Manchester Royal Infirmary), have wanted to be able to provide a tailored service and support for the UK South Asian population. One of our long term strategic aims is to make our services more visible, relevant and accessible to those who need us most, particularly those communities who, for reasons of language, culture and/or health literacy skills may be less able to negotiate about their healthcare needs or successfully navigate the health system. Our Apni Jung project is launching to coincide with the 2016 British Society for Rheumatology annual congress and we shall be presenting about this project at this year’s conference.

A real challenge for health professionals treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from minority backgrounds is finding a way to help those who don’t speak English as a first language and who may even have low literacy skills in terms of written materials in their own language, get access to high quality educational materials on their condition. We are for the first time providing a new web area with information about RA and its treatment in a combination of Hindi and Urdu.

This web area will also include video clips of Asian patients talking about their experiences so that those who don’t read their mother tongue can feel supported and less isolated. NRAS knows from the extensive experience of running peer to peer support programmes just how beneficial this kind of peer support can be. We hope that all rheumatology health professionals treating people with RA from the South Asian communities in the UK will sign-post their patients to this website. In future, we hope to be able to find and train suitable volunteers who speak fluent English and Hindi, Urdu and/or Punjabi to provide links into and peer support for these communities. For further information, please contact us at apnijung@nras.org.uk.

Our chief collaborator in this area of NRAS work is Dr. Kanta Kumar, Programme Director: MSc Advanced Practice in healthcare (international) & Module Lead: Advanced Physical Health Assessment, Institute of Clinical Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences at the University of Birmingham. Dr Kumar held a post at the University of Manchester as a Lecturer until 2017. Dr Kanta Kumar completed her NIHR awarded Clinical Doctoral PhD at the University of Birmingham in 2015. The PhD work focused on the issues related to medication adherence and the influence of ethnicity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Her areas of research include: behavioural medicine and impact of ethnicity of musculoskeletal disease. She has published extensively in these areas and has developed a national reputation for the work in ethnicity in rheumatology. The impact of her research on patient care is bringing together all major stakeholders including British Society of Rheumatology (BSR), patient charities, industry, and the NHS. With her continued commitment to improving care of patients with rheumatoid arthritis she has co-developed a timely innovation with National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) to help engage South Asian patients in education about their disease and acquiring self-management skills with the right support. This is called “Apni Jung” ‘our fight’ against rheumatoid arthritis. (nras.org.uk/apnijung). Dr Kumar’s’ future research will contribute towards addressing the health inequalities in rheumatology practice.

Relevant Peer-Reviewed articles:

Patient Empowerment: Apni Jung (Our Fight) against Rheumatoid Arthritis for South Asian Population
Ailsa Bosworth, Shirish Dubey, Ade Adebajo, Arumugam Moorthy, Shivam Arora, Afshan Salim, Joti Reehal, Vibhu Paudyal, Monica Gupta, and Kanta Kumar.

Please check out our COVID-19 and RA section here.

We also urge you to watch our latest video on the importance of COVID-19 vaccination in Punjabi – scroll further below.

Scroll to the bottom of this website and look for the ‘Hindi (हिन्दी)’ button towards the right.

Download the Advisory Board leaflet here.

This video explains what rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is in Hindi and how it is possible to move from standard treatment to Biologics. English and Hindi subtitles supported.

NRAS in 2023

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