More than half of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) work professionally, regardless of their disability certificate. Only 17% of patients are unemployed.

Effective treatment can halt the progression of the disease and keep patients on the labor market, argue the authors of the report, which summarizes the results of a study conducted by the Maison Research House on a group of nearly 400 MS patients aged 18 and over. Half of the surveyed group were people with higher education, 37% had secondary education, 10 percent professional, 2 percent graduated from junior high school, and 1 percent had primary education. 55 percent patients have had MS for 6 years or more (on average, 9 years).

The survey showed that 55 percent. people with MS work professionally – 45 percent full-time, 5 percent part-time and 5 percent on contract. The percentage of the unemployed is 17 percent, 26 percent. is on a pension, and 2 percent. retired. As many as 71 percent people from the study group had a certificate of disability or inability to work. Importantly, the percentage of the unemployed in the group with a disability certificate was only slightly higher than that found among people without a disability certificate. In the first case, 25 percent did not work. people, and in the second 20 percent.

According to the originator of the campaign “SM – Fight for yourself!” Raspberry Wieczorek The obtained data are in opposition to the stereotype, according to which people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis automatically quit their jobs and start collecting a pension.

“Our research shows that most people with MS work despite having a disability certificate, so they pay taxes and bring income for the state” – commented Malina Wieczorek for PAP.

Founder of the Maison Research House, dr hab. Dominika Maison from the University of Warsaw estimated that these results show the enormous determination of the sick to live as normally as possible and not let the disease take over their lives. According to her, it was also confirmed by previous studies among sick people, showing how important work is in their lives. “Work motivates to fight disease, provides a reason to get out of bed, to fight fatigue and discouragement. In addition, it gives a sense of self-reliance and independence, which is very important for patients, ”said Maison. It also extends the period of fitness and relatively well-being – that is why people with MS want to work as long as possible, despite all the adversities, which also include the inconvenience associated with the therapy.

As indicated by the participants of the study, these are primarily: side effects of treatment affecting the entire body (55% of patients treated with first-line therapy), changes at the site of drug administration (45% of patients using first-line therapy), as well as logistical problems, including the need to overcome long distances to the center that prescribes the therapy (only in 42% of cases the facility is located within the patient’s place of residence) and additional costs related to the therapy.

That is why people with MS – as much as 92 percent. from the studied group – they have very high hopes for new drugs for this disease, which are available to patients in most EU countries, and are still not reimbursed in Poland. These are i.a. first-line oral medications – dimethyl fumarate or teriflunomide. Not only are they more effective than the currently used injectable immunomodulatory drugs, they are also more convenient and safer to use.

According to Wieczorek, it is not just that patients want access to better medicines. “It is well known that if we have access to a wider range of drugs, we can better choose the therapy for a specific patient. And if we do not have such opportunities, the disease will progress quickly in some people and soon we will have a multitude of disabled people who will fall out of the labor market, convert to pensions and put even more strain on the system “- emphasized the co-organizer of the campaign« SM – Fight for yourself ! ».

In response to a question from PAP about the state of work on the reimbursement of new therapies for patients with MS, MZ spokesman Milena Kruszewska informed that in the case of teriflunomide and dimethyl fumarate, the president of the Agency for Technology Assessment and Tariffication does not recommend reimbursement under the drug program for patients with MS. In both cases, the reimbursement procedure was suspended at the request of the producers, and the procedure for teriflunomide was recently suspended. The final decision on the reimbursement of these therapies will be made by the Minister of Health – emphasized the spokesman of the Ministry of Health.

The campaign partners are: the Polish Society of Multiple Sclerosis (PTSR), the Urszula Jaworska Foundation and the Neuropozytywni Foundation. The campaign is under the patronage of the international organization European Multiple Sclerosis Platform (EMSP).

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