A 41-year-old woman, at the peak of her professional career, who has children growing up, cannot count on treatment for multiple sclerosis in Poland, because she does not qualify for therapy because of her age. Although specialists emphasize that the patient’s age does not affect the effect of the treatment, the Ministry of Health, due to the lack of money, creates idiotic criteria for qualifying for treatment. Fortunately, the health ministry has announced imminent changes.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) attacks fully able-bodied people. Man suddenly loses the use of his legs or goes blind. The disease causes the body’s immune system to destroy the sheaths of nerve cells like acid, to isolate electrical wires. Without “isolation” the nerves run the risk of “shorting”, slowing down or blocking conduction. At the site of damage to nerve fibers in the brain, scars or sclerosis are formed – hence the name of the disease. Immediately after an injury, MS is the most common cause of disability in young people. The disease is chronic and incurable. However, its development can be stopped.
Up to forty only
In Poland, he has been suffering from MS for 30 thousand. up to 40 thousand people. According to world standards, 30% of patients respond to treatment, which means that 10 thousand patients should undergo therapy in Poland. up to 12 thousand patients. However, only 4 are treated. Certain conditions must be met to qualify for treatment. Among other things, the age criterion is important. Prof. Danuta Ryglewicz, the national consultant for neurology, explains that the age restriction was the result of the financial limitations of the National Health Fund. When the therapeutic program was launched a few years ago, there was only enough money to treat 200-300 people. So it was necessary to choose the most needy. Preferences for younger patients were created. – It is, of course, very harmful. A 39-year-old patient is more likely to qualify for the program than a 40-year-old patient. Meanwhile, from a medical point of view, age should not be a limitation to qualifying for treatment. Most often, MS attacks between the ages of 20 and 40, but a XNUMX-year-old can also get sick. The decisive factor in qualifying for immunomodulating treatment should be the patient’s clinical condition – says prof. Ryglewicz
Sudden and devastating
MS often starts suddenly. The sick person may have problems with his eyesight – his or her vision is blurred or double. Sometimes he loses his sight in one or both eyes or the field of vision is restricted. Other symptoms are: weakness and paresis of the limbs, incoordination, numbness, and sensory disturbances. Sometimes there is dizziness, balance disorders, slurred speech, and an unpleasant feeling of running an electric current along the spine. Izabela Czarnecka, the president of the Polish Society of Multiple Sclerosis, regrets that if she had applied for treatment today, she would not have had a chance, because she was over 29. Czarnecka fell ill with MS when she was 41 years old. At that time, there was no therapeutic program in Poland at all. The disease first hit her eye. She started seeing badly. She was hospitalized in the ophthalmology ward. It was then that people started to suspect MS. When she was admitted from the hospital, she developed hearing problems, imbalances, and trembling hands. – I was a journalist. Due to my illness, I missed the keys on the computer keyboard. Earlier, I went to reportage abroad. When I got sick, I couldn’t get to my home coming back from the store – he says. Today Izabela Czarnecka is in a wheelchair. She is not receiving treatment because the drugs no longer work for her. However, it helps other sick people. – Treatment is most effective when the disease begins. So it is unfair that a XNUMX-year-old woman at the peak of her professional career, active and needed by her family, cannot be treated because of her age, she is outraged.
Only three years
Treatment of MS under the National Health Fund program lasts only two or three years at the most. Meanwhile, according to specialists, it should be continued – as in the case of other chronic diseases – as long as it is effective. – In the USA, therapy is continued for up to 20 years, because after discontinuation of the drug, relapses often occur – says prof. Jerzy Kotowicz from the Advisory Medical Committee of the Polish Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Izabela Czarnecka talks about a patient who started to heal when he was in very good condition. He was the champion of Poland in karate. After three years, he had to stop treatment because he ended his participation in the therapeutic program. This caused the disease to develop rapidly. Today he is in a wheelchair. – Another sick student, who climbed Mont Everest and still has many plans related to mountaineering, had just finished treatment. This young man completely doesn’t know what to do with himself. The monthly cost of the therapy is about PLN 3. zloty. Few people can afford it, Czarnecka insults. – World guidelines say that treatment should last as long as it brings positive clinical effects – emphasizes prof. Ryglewicz. – A year ago, we submitted an amendment to the therapeutic program, which changed these discriminatory qualification criteria. We also want the duration of treatment to be unlimited. So far we have not received an answer – says the president of the Polish Multiple Sclerosis Society.
It has to be better
March 30 this year. prof. D. Ryglewicz provided the patients with MS with important information. – The Minister of Health, Ewa Kopacz, at a meeting with the management of the Ministry, finally approved the modified Program of the immunomodulating treatment of MS, in which the age limit was lifted. At the same time, in patients whose clinical condition requires continued treatment, it will be extended to 60 months. The changes still have to be approved by the Health Technology Assessment Agency.
Text: Halina Pilonis