Nov
17
Brussels, 13 November 2008: Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in different countries in the Europe face huge variations in provision of treatment and care, according to results from an MS barometer reported at the European parliament.
The MS barometer is a benchmarking initiative being carried out by the European Multiple Sclerosis Platform (EMSP), an umbrella organisation of national MS societies. It measures the care and services for people with the condition in seven key areas, including access to treatment and therapies, research in MS, employment and job retention and medication coming to the market.
Reporting the first-year findings, Mairead O’Leary, Project Coordinator for the Multiple Sclerosis Information Dividend, the EU funded project collecting information using the MS barometer, explained the rationale: “We needed an accurate picture of MS in Europe, including the number of people diagnosed with the condition, services and treatment availability. The barometer is one of the first steps to giving this picture, allowing us to look at information across different countries.”
Figures for 2008 collected in each country by national MS organisations and medical advisory boards showed major differences for the 32 European countries taking part (27 EU member states plus five others). The average score was 156 from a total of 270 points across the seven areas of MS care assessed, but this ranged from a highest score of 240 in Germany down to the lowest of 82 points in Romania.
read the rest: Multiple Sclerosis ‘barometer’ Reveals Wide Variation In Care Across Europe
Comments
Leave a Reply