OAFI explains the proposal for a new care management model for OA patients at the General patients Alliance conference

OAFI, International Foundation of Patients with Arthrosis, has participated in the 6th Patients’ Day of the General Alliance of Patients (AGP) at the round table “Giving voice to pathologies. Current situation, care demands and unmet needs” which was held today in Madrid. Dr. Josep Vergés, President and CEO of the OAFI, explained that osteoarthritis affects almost 30% of the Spanish population over the age of 40. “It has become the most important chronic disease and already affects 10 million Spaniards. It is also a gender-based disease as it affects more women than men”, he said.

Need for a paradigm shift

In addition to insisting that hygienic dietary measures through specific programs with patients significantly improve the disease, “programs that primary care sometimes has no time to recommend or work with the patient”, OAFI proposes a change in the paradigm of the Health System to place the patient in the center, with a new management model of OA disease. In this sense, Dr. Vergés indicated that “equity must be improved in the Spanish health system, as well as the safety of pharmacological treatments. The latter is very important due to the comorbidities of the disease”. The president of OAFI emphasized the Foundation’s concern about the high rate of adverse effects of NSAIDs and morphine derivatives that are used to treat osteoarthritis”. At OAFI we have carried out a Delphi study carried out by 20 experts selected by medical societies on the appropriate use of SYSADOA, which has resulted in a consensus document on their use that will be very useful for healthcare personnel”.

The Artro360 project puts the patient at the center of the healthcare management model

Dr. Vergés explained to the patients attending the conference that the OAFI Foundation, together with SEMERGEN, SENFYC, SEMG, SER, SETRADE, SEFAC, University of Barcelona (School of Nursing) and the Ministry of Health, among others, have proposed to the authorities to develop and implement a new model in the management of osteoarthritis, the ARTRO360 project. “The application of ARTRO360, in which the patient is the center, can improve the quality of life of our patients suffering from the disease and also reduce healthcare costs”.

About the VI AGP Patients’ Conference

The 6th AGP Patients’ Conference was presented by Diego Sanjuanbenito, Deputy Minister for the Humanisation of Healthcare of the Community of Madrid, and Juan Manuel Ortiz, President of the AGP. Patient associations and organisations such as Diabetes Madrid, Asociación Española con la Osteoporosis, Federación De Enfermos Respiratorios, AMAC, AADA, Esclerosis Múltiple España, Asociación Freno al ICTUS, and the Federación Española de Hemofilia, among others, took part in the debate.