«The number of patients with heart failure is growing not only in Poland but also in Europe. It is true, but with the difference that in Europe patients have access to innovative therapies for which we have been fighting for several years. Even such a small country as Albania can enjoy access to treatment, which remains a dream for Polish patients »writes Agnieszka Wołczenko, president of the Polish Association of Patients with Heart and Vascular Diseases EcoSerce. “I have the impression that patients with heart failure are the only group that is so successfully omitted from reimbursement lists.”
Experts have no doubts that in the next 10 years, heart failure will be the most common disease of all cardiovascular diseases. Today we are struggling with enormous costs of hospitalization or payments for disability pensions and benefits related to the incapacity for work. The age limit is dropping drastically, so the problem does not only concern seniors / retirees.
Heart disease. What symptoms are worrying?
For several years, we have been fighting for access to the only innovative drug therapy for this group of patients. The quality of life of patients is extremely low, the lack of proper treatment leads to disability, and pushes patients to the margins of family and social life. Only a handful of patients can afford to buy a drug that restores patients’ efficiency. And this small fraction of about a million people have a chance to return to work or lead a normal, active life. The rest are doomed to long-term disability. Patients with heart failure for several years have not received any medication improving their well-being and health. The only breakthrough is the reimbursement of drugs for pulmonary hypertension that patients received in March 2015, i.e. four years ago.
I would also like to remind you that so far patients with heart failure do not have access to comprehensive care, despite the strenuous, long-term efforts of outstanding Polish cardiology specialists. And still – every day – 164 people die, which leads to the death of about 60 annually. Poles.
The situation of patients is very bad, I have the impression that patients with heart failure are the only group that is so effectively omitted from reimbursement lists. Moreover, treatment is carried out under drug programs with strictly defined criteria. Compared to other drug programs, access to and financing of treatment for patients with heart failure is small, and the long waiting period for reimbursement means that originally innovative drugs cease to be such. At a time when patients around the world have a chance to be treated with good, modern therapies, Polish patients do not have a chance to lead a normal life.
The situation is dramatic, we receive numerous requests from patients for help in accessing the drug, we also receive a lot of words of support for our actions. The interest of patients is also visible in the petition with an appeal to the minister of health for access to decent treatment, which is signed by many patients. This is only proof of how difficult everyday life is for patients with heart failure. The disease is not only a medical and economic problem, but also a social one.
We will continue to fight for a dignified life for patients with heart failure, because their current situation is dramatic.
Agnieszka Wołczenko, president of the National Association of Patients with Heart and Vascular Diseases EcoSerce
The petition can be found here.