- Patients who start treatment early have the best clinical outcomes. This is a pilot, perfect program. However, we are constantly analyzing what else can be added, what drugs are needed - said Deputy Minister of Health Maciej Miłkowski in an interview with Medexpress, summing up 3.5 years of the SMA drug program.
SMA
Treatment of SMA is better the earlier the diagnosis is made
Published Nov. 7, 2022 13:15
The SMA drug program has been in operation for 3.5 years. How do you assess this time of its operation?
Very good cooperation with doctors and patients. Very good qualification right from the start. The first qualification for patients in the worst condition was quickly obtained, and the funds were evenly distributed. Doctors also assess the clinical effects very well.
One of the clinical effects is that there have been no exemptions due to treatment failure.
This is very important because in fact this drug was included quite early in the preliminary results of clinical trials. Real practice is no worse than clinical trials, which does not always happen. In Poland, the program has been introduced very widely and, as you can see, patients are treated very effectively.
It does not always happen that Poland can boast that we are at the forefront of Europe when it comes to access to treatment. For this we also have screening tests. Can you say that this is a model treatment regimen?
We started with what was available, which was treatment. We immediately assumed that we were not discriminating against any patients. Then we started screening. This is a revolution and everyone can see that patients who start treatment early have the best clinical outcomes. This is a pilot, perfect program. We are constantly analyzing what else can be added, what drugs are needed. We noticed that patients with technical problems needed a new form of administration when taking the drug, and we provided them with it. All this translates into an improvement in the quality of life of patients.
Thanks for the interview.
