BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched a new Spanish-language website that provides free health information on conditions of the bones, joints, muscles and skin. The site is being launched to coincide with National Hispanic Heritage Month.

“Many diseases in our scientific portfolio, including lupus, arthritis and osteoporosis, have profoundly negative effects among Hispanics/Latinos and other minority groups, in terms of prevalence and poor health outcomes,” said NIAMS Director Stephen I. Katz, M.D., Ph.D. “We are committed to providing quality health information to all people, no matter what language they speak or what culture they identify with.”

Increasingly, website traffic to NIAMS’ Spanish-language content represents about 50 percent of its total visits in a given month. To meet this high demand, the new site features quick and easy navigation tools to help Spanish-speaking individuals identify and locate NIAMS health topics. It also includes landing pages that provide all of the information offered on a given topic in one place. The website, available at http://www.niams.nih.gov/espanol also offers:

• Improved access to NIAMS’ Spanish-language health information and related federal resources
• Information on participating in clinical research studies
• Responsive design that makes the site easier to read on mobile devices

NIAMS is committed to providing health information that is culturally and linguistically appropriate for diverse populations, including underserved racial and ethnic communities. The NIAMS Spanish-language materials are an integral component of the institute’s entire suite of health resources that are part of its National Multicultural Outreach Initiative, many of which are also available in Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.

The mission of the NIAMS, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health, is to support research into the causes, treatment and prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases; the training of basic and clinical scientists to carry out this research; and the dissemination of information on research progress in these diseases. For more information about the NIAMS, call the information clearinghouse at (301) 495-4484 or (877) 22-NIAMS (free call) or visit the NIAMS website at http://www.niams.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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