SEMERGEN and OAFI sign a collaborative agreement to promote osteoarthritis research in Primary Healthcare

• Both entities have established an agreement to collaborate jointly in the prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis disease
• SEMERGEN’s Research Agency will join the Global Osteoarthritis Cluster, a worldwide cluster led by OAFI and made up of patients, medical societies, scientific societies, public health administrations, partners and technology companies, among other agents.

The Research Agency of the Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians (Agencia de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria, SEMERGEN) and the Osteoarthritis Foundation International (OAFI) will work together to provide more knowledge and information on osteoarthritis disease among family doctors. By signing this agreement, both entities have expressed their willingness to work together and develop research and prevention actions and activities to promote knowledge about this disease. The projects will be carried out on a national and international level in the fields of medicine.

With more than 10,000 members, SEMERGEN aims to promote health in Primary Care Medicine, conducting activities aimed at improving the provision of healthcare, as well as the continuous training of Primary Care physicians. In this sense, SEMERGEN’s President, Dr. José Luis Llisterri, believes that “the signing of the agreement is positive for both parties because it will help to learn more about the disease through scientific cooperation between doctors and patients.”

For his part, the President of OAFI, Dr. Josep Vergés,is also satisfied with the signing of this agreement. “Patients increasingly want to learn more about their illness and participate together with their doctors. A well-informed patient is a patient who will progress much better with their disease“, says Dr. Vergés.

SEMERGEN’s Research Agency will collaborate in this international initiative -based in Barcelona and led by OAFI-, to create a “global cluster of knowledge in joint health” by connecting its members: scientific societies, public healthcare administrations, partners, patient associations and research centers.

The OAFI International Foundation is committed to the prevention, treatment and improvement of the quality of life of people suffering from osteoarthritis (elderly, postmenopausal women, and athletes), providing them with greater knowledge about their disease so that they have the necessary tools to slow down its development.