Urbano Sbarigia

The epidemiology and clinical presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) differ across patient subsets and geographies, with variations according to age, sex, race and ethnicity. Current local or regional SLE registries use different approaches in recruiting patients and collecting patient data, limiting the understanding of SLE presentation, disease outcomes and treatment patterns globally.

It is estimated that the hepatitis B virus (HBV) severely threatens the lives of an estimated 292 million people worldwide [1]. In 2015, complications related to the disease (including cirrhosis and liver cancer) were responsible for approximately 887,000 deaths globally [2]. Further, the global burden of disease study found that viral hepatitis was the seventh leading cause of death in 2013 worldwide [3].