World Lupus Day | “Home Court Moment” Patient Care Initiative Launches in Shanghai, Helping Millions of “Butterfly Friends” Embark on a New Chapter Toward Clinical Remission

Let the “Volcano” Sleep: Helping Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients Safeguard Long-Term Quality of Life

SHANGHAIMay 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — “It feels like there’s an unpredictable volcano inside my body. When it flares up, it’s like a volcanic eruption.” On World Lupus Day, May 10, 2026, the “Home Moment” Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patient Care Initiative, co-hosted by Xinhuanet and patient organization SLE Jieyou Zahuopu, and supported by AstraZeneca China, officially launched in Shanghai.

Professor Zhang Zhuoli, Chair-Elect of the Chinese Rheumatology Association and Director of the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology at Peking University First Hospital, along with multiple authoritative clinical experts from Shanghai Changhai Hospital, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, national media representatives, nearly one hundred patients, and corporate representatives gathered together. With joint efforts from doctors, patients, media, and enterprises, spanning from the触动 of an “immersive exhibition” to in-depth dialogue on the “dual-target” treatment concept, this was not just a public welfare initiative, but a life commitment to “clinical remission”—protecting millions of “butterfly friends,” helping them break through their cocoons and return to their “home moment” in life.

The Dilemma: The “Double Shackles” of Relapse and Side Effects

In China, the number of systemic lupus erythematosus patients is nearly one million, with the highest disease burden globally. This chronic autoimmune disease often affects the kidneys, blood, and nervous system. The facial rash of patients resembles butterfly wings, earning them the nickname “butterfly friends.”

“When I was diagnosed 14 years ago, I thought I would recover quickly. But the repeated relapses, fluctuating disease activity, and severe side effects from taking 12 steroid pills daily led to blindness and paralysis. I struggled back and forth between ‘disease relapse’ and ‘medication side effects.’ I even thought about giving up.”

At the event, patient representative Mengna shared her arduous journey through her personal experience, a true microcosm of the multiple pressures faced by systemic lupus erythematosus patients, including disease relapse, organ damage, and treatment side effects.

Professor Zhang Zhuoli, Chair-Elect of the Chinese Rheumatology Association and Director of the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology at Peking University First Hospital, stated: “Insufficient early intervention and subsequent relapses are the dual drivers of damage to core organs like the kidneys and heart. While long-term high-dose glucocorticoid use can control symptoms, the resulting osteoporosis, osteonecrosis, cataracts, cardiovascular risks, and central obesity severely impact patients’ long-term prognosis. How to both extinguish the ‘fire’ and reduce the ‘damage’ is a common aspiration of all butterfly friends.”

Breaking the Deadlock: Upgrading Treatment Goals, Letting the “Volcano” Enter Long-Term Sleep

With the continuous advancement of management concepts and the upgrade of treatment methods, the treatment goal for systemic lupus erythematosus has officially transitioned from “symptom control” to “clinical remission”^[2].

Professor Zhang Zhuoli vividly interpreted this treatment goal using the “volcano” analogy: “If a relapse is a volcanic eruption, then clinical remission is putting the volcano into a dormant state. The criteria for dormancy require ‘dual targets’:

1. Disease Activity Target: Disease manifestations are effectively controlled (cSLEDAI score of 0, PGA ≤ 0.5)^[2];
2. Treatment Regimen Target: Low-dose glucocorticoids (prednisone ≤ 5 mg/day), low-intensity, stable-dose immunosuppressants or biologics^[2].

“Achieving clinical remission means that not only are the patient’s symptoms effectively controlled, but organ function is also maximally protected, allowing them to return to normal study and work.” Professor Zhang Zhuoli also emphasized that achieving this goal is not instantaneous but requires early diagnosis, early treatment, standardized treatment, treat-to-target, regular follow-up, and sometimes the intervention of innovative therapies like biologics to achieve long-term chronic disease management.

Guardianship: Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration to Create a “Home Moment”

This “Home Moment” Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patient Care Initiative is a public welfare practice where clinical experts, authoritative media, patient organizations, and caring enterprises join hands to respond to the unmet needs of patients.

Ms. Ling Huiji, head of the long-standing patient service organization SLE Jieyou Zahuopu, stated: “In our communication with patients, we increasingly find that the disease brings not only physical pain but also psychological anxiety and social difficulties. We sincerely hope that the whole society will正视 systemic lupus erythematosus, pay attention to the real needs of patients, promote consensus on the treatment goal of clinical remission, and work together to support butterfly friends in achieving a high quality of life.”

Ms. Zhang Hongru, head of Xinhuanet’s Digital Health Division and representative of the media co-host, said: “Currently, China’s health work is shifting from a ‘disease treatment-centered’ approach to a ‘people’s health-centered’ one^[1]. Systemic lupus erythematosus severely affects the quality of life of over one million patients and requires the attention and support of the entire society. As media, we will leverage our authoritative platform influence to help more butterfly friends emerge from the shadows under scientific guidance and embrace their life’s home field.”

As the corporate supporter of the care initiative, Mr. Lin Xiao, General Manager of AstraZeneca China and General Manager of China BioPharmaceuticals Business, also stated: “AstraZeneca has always been patient-centric, empowering diagnostic and therapeutic transformation through scientific innovation. Today’s action is just the starting point. We will continue to collaborate with all parties, deeply understand patient needs, and take practical actions to help millions of butterfly friends strive towards their life’s ‘home moment’.”

Globally, AstraZeneca continues to focus on the unmet needs of systemic lupus erythematosus patients, actively supporting exchanges and cooperation among global experts and patient organizations to jointly promote the updating of treatment concepts and patient care practices, contributing constructive support to improving disease awareness, optimizing management concepts, and enhancing patient quality of life. Based in China, AstraZeneca will also collaborate with academic associations, clinical experts, and patient organizations to deeply understand the current status of patient quality of life, build communication and exchange platforms, conduct doctor-patient dialogue activities, present core pain points and real challenges in disease management with objective data and authentic patient voices, support the continuous optimization of local practices, promote the gradual deepening of standardized management concepts, and contribute to the construction of “Healthy China 2030.”

When medical progress, policy guidance, public welfare care, and corporate innovation work in the same direction, millions of “butterfly friends” will eventually break through their cocoons and embrace their own home field during the moments when that “volcano” is silent.

About Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by immune system dysregulation attacking healthy tissues. The disease is chronic and complex, with diverse clinical manifestations that can affect multiple organs, causing symptoms such as rash, hair loss, joint pain and swelling, fever, and fatigue^{[2],[3],[4],[5]}.

Globally, over 3.4 million people have systemic lupus erythematosus. It is one of the leading causes of death among young women in the United States and is more common in Asian, Black, or Hispanic populations^[6],[7]. The disease is often accompanied by pain and disability, and has profound psychological and economic impacts on patients^{[2],[8],[9],[10],[11],[12]}.

Statistics show that approximately 50% of systemic lupus erythematosus patients develop irreversible organ damage within five years of diagnosis due to long-term glucocorticoid use and/or persistent disease activity^[11],[13]. Gradually reducing the daily oral glucocorticoid dose by small increments does not significantly increase the risk of disease relapse and can effectively reduce the risk of organ damage^[13].

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/NYSE: AZN) is a science-led global biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development, and commercialization of prescription drugs in Oncology, Rare Diseases, and BioPharmaceuticals, including Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. Headquartered in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca operates in over 125 countries, and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. For more information, please visit www.astrazeneca.com.

About AstraZeneca China

China is AstraZeneca’s second-largest global market and a strategic hub for its global innovation. The company has two global strategic R&D centers in China, having led over 20 global clinical trials to date; four manufacturing and supply sites providing high-quality innovative medicines to over 70 markets worldwide; and regional headquarters in five locations for commercial operations. AstraZeneca China is headquartered in Shanghai, with over 17,000 employees. Since 2023, the company has entered into 17 collaborations with 15 Chinese partners. Since entering China in 1993, AstraZeneca has brought over 40 innovative medicines to the country, covering Oncology, Respiratory, Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, Gastrointestinal, Rare Diseases, Vaccines & Immunology, and other areas. In 2025 alone, the company’s innovative medicines benefited 68 million patients in China.