Rome, 12 April (beraking latest news Salute) – In Italy, with over 8 million over 65s suffering from at least one chronic disease and about 2 million elderly people forced to take at least 10 drugs a day, adherence to therapies is a key factor in ensuring a good quality of life and the sustainability of the NHS, but to date only 50% of patients over the age of 65 are able to follow the treatments correctly. The ‘numbers’ are remembered on the occasion of the National Day for Therapeutic Adherence, which is celebrated today, established to remind patients, caregivers, health professionals and institutions that following treatment correctly is essential especially for those living with a chronic disease. in particular now in full pandemic emergency. In fact, it is now clear that the lack of pharmacological adherence has a heavy impact on the health of patients, the NHS and society in general.
In Italy, 60% of the over 65s are affected by a chronic disease and, among these, cardiometabolic diseases are the most frequent (27%). Almost 18 million people die every year in the world from cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in our country. Over the past 20 years, therapies alone have reduced mortality from ischemic heart disease by 50%, but much remains to be done. A question, that of therapeutic adherence, very current and no longer postponable, unfortunately very often underestimated by patients who for a series of various reasons reduce, make mistakes or abandon the intake of the drugs prescribed to them.
“Improving adherence levels requires a shared approach by all the players involved: healthcare professionals, patients, institutions and pharmaceutical companies. Everyone must do their part”, says François Debaillon-Vesque, General Manager of the Servier Group in Italy. . And he recalls that “the Servier Group in Italy has been engaged for years both in the search for innovative therapeutic solutions for the treatment of chronic cardiometabolic diseases and in the promotion of the ‘culture’ of adherence by involving the various actors of the System in a reflection participatory and transversal “.
Numerous studies confirm that a patient who is aware and correctly informed about his condition is more adherent to care. For this reason – reports a note Servier – on the occasion of the National Day dedicated to therapeutic adherence, the French company has decided to renew its commitment by promoting a national awareness initiative with the distribution of information material in pharmacies and in the studies of general practitioners. In support of the initiative, a radio campaign is also planned to promote “Chronic impatients”, the first web series dedicated to therapeutic adherence and a social campaign through the Facebbok and LinkedIn pages of the Servier Group in Italy and the Fb page of ‘Al heart of adhesion ‘.
There are therefore several levers on which to act to improve adherence: the educational interventions aimed at patients, caregivers and healthcare personnel are very useful, but the availability of drugs capable of simplifying therapy is also fundamental. “Servier continues to invest in research to provide patients with effective and tolerated but also increasingly ‘comfortable’ therapies, such as fixed-dose combinations of drugs and polypills with multiple active ingredients in the same tablet, the purpose of which is precisely that. to simplify the taking of the therapy, in favor of an increase in adherence and therefore a consequent success of the treatment “, declares Marie-Georges Besse, Medical Director of the Servier Group in Italy.
“In particular, to date, therapy based on the use of fixed combinations of drugs – he explains – is considered an essential element for an effective treatment of chronic diseases as the use of several active ingredients combined in a rational way in the same tablet allows the tangible simplification of the therapeutic scheme, to the benefit of all patients but especially of the polytreated patients. In the near future our pipeline will be further enriched with new drugs with fixed and polypill combinations “.
“In clinical practice, adherence to therapy continues to be below 50%, a figure that is certainly not comforting if you think that a patient who does not adhere means a loss of therapeutic efficacy, but also a waste of economic resources for the NHS”, he declares. Viviana Ruggieri, External relations, Market access & Regulatory director of the Servier Group in Italy. “In fact, if the taking of drugs is interrupted without a clinical reason, the investment made up to that moment can be considered in vain. If adherence rises to 70%, more than 82 thousand heart attacks and strokes could be avoided with a consequent saving for the NHS of about 330 million euros ”, Ruggieri quantifies.
The pandemic – concludes the note Servier – has shown the urgent need to invest in the system to ensure better and equitable health care for the chronic patient with actions aimed at establishing socio-health, organizational and management pathways such as the creation and inclusion in the new guarantee system (former Lea grid) of an indicator that measures therapeutic adherence in a standardized way.