BEERSE, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A White Paper published today in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (JEADV) provides a framework for action to improve psoriasis care across Europe. The White Paper, entitled A framework for improving the quality of care for people with psoriasis1, was authored by the European Expert Working Group for Healthcare in Psoriasis (EEWGHP). The principal aim of the multi-disciplinary group is to improve clinical outcomes and quality of life for the 17 to 25 million2,3 patients living with psoriasis in Europe.
“Early access to high-quality care – the right treatment, at the right time – is central to improving the overall treatment experience, and long-term outlook for a person with psoriasis. In the current climate, it is more important than ever to use existing resources as effectively as possible to give patients the care they deserve,” said Professor Matthias Augustin, Centre for Dermatological Research, University Clinics of Hamburg, Germany, and Chair of the EEWGHP. “We hope that the framework outlined in the Psoriasis White Paper will be pivotal in improving early access to high-quality care across the region, through raised awareness and more consistent management.”
The EEWGHP, supported by Janssen*, was formed in 2010 to proactively address key issues in the management of psoriasis. The EEWGHP identified an enormous variation in the quality of care that people with psoriasis receive throughout Europe.4,5 They found that patients with moderate to severe psoriasis are often under-treated or kept on the same therapies for significant periods of time without obtaining adequate control for their psoriasis.6,7 The Psoriasis White Paper is the outcome of the group’s findings and discussions, and provides tangible goals and action points to key stakeholders involved in psoriasis care across Europe, focused on raising treatment aspirations and improving clinical outcomes.
The EEWGHP White Paper calls for healthcare organisations, healthcare professionals, European regulatory bodies, governments, industry, academia and patient advocacy groups to act together to1:
- Raise awareness of psoriasis as a serious medical condition that can greatly impact on a person’s quality of life and ensure that it is officially recognised as such. This will enable people with psoriasis receive quality and cost-effective healthcare that reduces the individual and wider economic impact of the disease
- Promote the development, awareness and use of treatment guidelines
- Raise awareness of assessment tools and their standard use, whilst identifying the potential for new assessment tools that can help to accurately assess disease severity and outcomes in specific situations and conditions
- Define treatment goals and associated management strategies that improve standards for people with psoriasis and encourage patients to be involved in setting these
- Drive data collection on the impact of earlier intervention with systemic therapies through national patient registries that contribute to European registry networks and proactively manage psoriasis through the provision of timely therapeutic monitoring and an multi disciplinary team approach to ongoing care
- Drive patient advocacy group engagement with guideline and policy making parties so that the patient perspective is given appropriate consideration
The full Psoriasis White Paper is available to view for free via: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1468-3083/homepage/psoriasis_white_paper.htm
The Psoriasis Mandate
Based on the recommendations made within the Psoriasis White Paper, an online petition has been launched by the EEWGHP, Janssen* and The European Umbrella Organisation for Psoriasis Movements (EUROPSO). The Psoriasis Mandate is an opportunity for people with psoriasis, healthcare professionals and the community at large to pledge their support for achieving the best care possible for those living with psoriasis.
The Psoriasis Mandate can be accessed via www.psoriasis360.com/psoriasis-mandate
“The Psoriasis White Paper is undeniably a great step forward in addressing much needed improvements in standards of psoriasis care across Europe. However, its true value will rest on successful implementation by the stakeholders to which the action points are addressed. It is our hope, that the Psoriasis Mandate will give patients across Europe the power to ask for the standards of care that they rightfully deserve to manage this chronic and distressing condition,” said Ottfrid Hillman, President, EUROPSO.
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EEWGHP Members
Matthias Augustin (Chair)
Institute for Health Services
Research in Dermatology and Nursing, University Clinics of Hamburg,
Hamburg, Germany
José M. Alvaro-Gracia
Biological Therapies Unit Hospital
Universitario de la Princesa. Fundación de Investigaciones Biomédicas de
la Princesa, Madrid, Spain
Martine Bagot
Department of Dermatology and Inserm U976,
Hopital Saint-Louis, Paris, France
Ottfrid Hillmann
The European umbrella organisation for
psoriasis movements (EUROPSO), Düsseldorf, Germany
Peter CM van de Kerkhof
Radboud University Nijmegen Medical
Centre, Department of Dermatology, The Netherlands
Gisela Kobelt
Lund University, Lund, Sweden and European
Health Economics, France
Mara Maccarone
Associazione per la Difesa degli Psoriasici,
Rome, Italy
Luigi Naldi
Director, Centro Studi GISED, Presidio
Ospedaliero Matteo Rota, Bergamo, Italy
Huub Schellekens
Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences and
Innovation Management, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
About Psoriasis
Psoriasis is a chronic disease caused when the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy skin cells, speeding up skin cell production.8 Plaque psoriasis, the most common type of psoriasis,9 often results in patches of thick, red or inflamed skin covered with silvery scales (known as plaques). These plaques usually itch or feel sore, can crack and bleed, and can occur anywhere on the body.
Psoriasis affects 125 million people worldwide and between 17 and 25 million people in Europe.2,3 The type, symptoms and severity of psoriasis may differ from one person to another, with its effects ranging from mild or moderate, to severe. Nearly one-quarter of people with psoriasis have cases that are considered moderate to severe.2 As an incurable, highly visible and often painful disease, psoriasis is also associated with multiple physical and psychological burdens such as depression.10
For more information about psoriasis, available treatment options and tools to assess the medical severity of psoriasis please visit the award-winning website www.psoriasis360.com
About Janssen
Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies are dedicated to addressing and solving the most important unmet medical needs of our time, including oncology (e.g. multiple myeloma and prostate cancer), immunology (e.g. psoriasis), neuroscience (e.g. schizophrenia, dementia and pain), infectious disease (e.g. HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and tuberculosis), and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (e.g. diabetes).
Driven by our commitment to patients, we develop sustainable, integrated healthcare solutions by working side-by-side with healthcare stakeholders, based on partnerships of trust and transparency. More information can be found at www.janssen-emea.com
References:
1. Augustin M and The European Expert Working Group for Healthcare in Psoriasis. A framework for improving the quality of care for people with psoriasis. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2012, 26 (Suppl. 4), 1–16.
2. National Psoriasis Foundation. About Psoriasis: Statistics. Available at: www.psoriasis.org/about/stats Last accessed April 2012.
3. World Health Organisation. Available at: www.who.int/choice/demography/pop_death_rates/en/index.html Last accessed May 2012.
4. Pathirana D, Ormerod AD, Saiag P, Smith C, Spuls PI, Nast A, et al. European S3-guidelines on the systemic treatment of psoriasis vulgaris. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2009 Oct;23 Suppl 2:1–70.
5. Augustin M, Krüger K, Radtke MA, Schwippl I, Reich K. Disease severity, quality of life and health care in plaque-type psoriasis: a multicenter cross-sectional study in Germany. Dermatology. 2008;216(4):366–72.
6. Mrowietz U, Kragballe K, Reich K, Spuls P, Griffiths CE, Nast A, et al. Definition of treatment goals for moderate to severe psoriasis: a European consensus. Arch Dermatol Res. 2011 Jan;303(1):1–10.
7. Dubertret L, Mrowietz U, Ranki A, Van De Kerkhof S, Chimenti T, Lotti G, et al. European patient perspectives on the impact of psoriasis: the EUROPSO patient membership survey. Br J Dermatol. 2006 Oct;155(4):729–36.
8. The Psoriasis Association. Available at: www.psoriasis-association.org.uk/pages/view/about-psoriasis. Last accessed May 2012.
9. National Psoriasis Foundation. Available at: www.psoriasis.org/netcommunity/learn/about-psoriasis/types. Last accessed May 2012.
10. National Psoriasis Foundation. Related Health concerns: Psoriasis comorbidities. Available at: http://www.psoriasis.org/about-psoriasis/related-conditions. Last accessed May 2012.
Notes:
*Financial assistance for The Psoriasis Mandate and roundtable discussions and writing support for the Psoriasis White Paper was provided by Janssen, more specifically Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Belgium.