World’s first evidence glossary quantifies the impact of inflammatory rheumatic conditions

GAfPA is calling on policy makers across Europe to urgently support remission as the treatment goal for more patients living with inflammatory rheumatic conditions, through prioritisation of optimal care and treatment as well as timelier diagnosis.

Launched at an officially related meeting of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) congress, the Glossary evidences how achieving remission can:

• Reduce hospital utilisation and lower annual costs for patients and healthcare systems
• Improve individuals’ quality of life, physical and mental health outcomes, and reduce co-morbidities and mortality
• Empower individuals to lead fulfilling and economically productive lives

Living with an inflammatory rheumatic condition, such as rheumatoid arthritis or spondylarthritis, can significantly impact quality of life for patients – from mobility, mental health and intimacy, to living with pain and fatigue, to financial impairment due to lost productivity and reduced employment.

Currently, there is no cure for these conditions. But early diagnosis and prompt initiation of care, combined with an urgent need to achieve optimal treatment, can help to eliminate the signs of disease in patients. This is known as remission.

Yet despite advances in therapeutic options, many people still do not receive optimal care to help them achieve remission.

Already, rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions like rheumatoid arthritis cost the EU approximately €300 billion each year in lost productivity and work absence[i]. The challenge is only growing: 50% of EU Member States’ working age populations could be diagnosed with such conditions by 2030[ii].

Neil Betteridge, Senior Director of the European Alliance for Patient Access, said: “Advances in technology and treatments should have brought us into a golden age of rheumatological care – but it hasn’t.

“Without greater urgency from policymakers and health systems, and without empowering patients to seek the very best achievable outcome, remission and its benefits will remain unnecessarily out-of-reach for many.”

Professor Anthony Woolf, Director of GAfPA said: “Achieving remission allows patients the freedom to live without the debilitating symptoms of these diseases, whilst relieving health systems of substantial expenditure.”

“Right now, patients often do not receive optimal care when they need it. Diagnoses are frequently too slow, and treatment is not initiated quickly enough. Addressing these barriers will be crucial in ensuring remission is a realistic goal for as many patients living with inflammatory rheumatic conditions as possible”.

Antonella Celano, President of the National Association for People with Rheumatic and Rare Diseases (APMARR) in Italy, said: “For me, remission has  meant regaining my time. It’s given me time to live a better life, and to go back to thinking about the future, to start planning my life again – from work to social relationships.”

“The disease has not disappeared. But thanks to adherence of treatment, following the doctor’s instructions, and receiving psychological support combined with a healthy lifestyle, I can now have a normal life.”

To learn more, read, “The Value of Achieving Remission in Inflammatory Rheumatic Conditions Glossary.”

References

[i] Harney M, et al. European Steering Group of Sustainable Healthcare.

[ii] Cross M, et al. The global burden of rheumatoid arthritis: estimates from the global burden of disease 2010 study. Ann Rheum Dis. 2014;73(7):1316-22.