2023-09-13 17:24:10
“Towards patients, I believe that we must take a step forward to listen to them by considering their perspective – from research to assistance – as one of the hubs, of the information elements, when it comes to making a decision. The challenge for all of us is to proceed with rapid implementation, in our country, of what is foreseen in the IRC Manifesto with a view to collaboration with all the players in the health system who work, respecting skills and functions, with the common objective of improving the lives of patients with respiratory diseases”. Thus Barbara Grassi, vice president, medical and scientific director, GSK Italia, speaking at the event ‘A new coalition for respiratory health – The International Respiratory Coalition (Irc) presents itself in Italy’, which took place in Milan on the sidelines of the European Congress of Pneumology which ends today.
The document ‘A Manifesto for Better Respiratory Healthcare’, recently published by the IRC, was illustrated at the meeting, which demonstrates the commitment to bringing the problems related to respiratory health to the attention of civil society and institutions. The IRC, in fact, is a coalition of healthcare workers, patients and partners in the sector, led by the European Respiratory Society (ERS), created with the dual objective of promoting lung health and improving respiratory care in the reality of each individual country, starting from best practices.
“In the symposiums of the Ers Congress – observes Grassi – I had a lot of satisfaction in seeing the perspective of the clinician and the patient together. We have made many steps forward, we need to make more. However, I would like to underline that not all patients have access to timely diagnosis. This delay in the management of the pathology in a broad sense – adds the GSK medical director – has an important impact on the quality of life, first of all, on the effectiveness of the treatment and, ultimately, on the prognosis”.
On the management of the pathology, “at the Ers – underlines Grassi – there are numerous guidelines created on the basis of recent evidence, but there is a lot of variability in their application. This does not mean that everyone must get the same treatment. According to the guidelines more recent – he points out – the patient must be treated as an individual. There is the respiratory disease, but it is in the individual patient, who may have other pathologies. The perspective of the system returns, of the integrated management of the patient, by specialists, to treat it in its entirety. The respiratory disease may be the main one, but often – reflects the GSK vice president – it is accompanied by something else. The holistic management of the patient – which means attention to prevention, risk factors and vaccination – also includes optimization of the treatment”.
There are many treatments available, “but they are not all used adequately – reiterates Grassi – even if they can reduce organ damage and complications. In respiratory diseases we do not only aspire to control the symptoms, but as for cardiovascular diseases, We aim to reduce mortality and complications.” In this context, he concludes, “technology can be used both in research and development, but also in patient management, with telemedicine, and for the synthesis of new drugs to fill the unmet needs that still exist”.
The IRC – which wishes to catalyze what has been learned during the pandemic to drive change in healthcare systems globally – in Italy actively collaborates with the Italian Society of Pneumology (Sip/Irs) and the Italian Association of Hospital Pneumologists (Aipo) to address the national challenges linked to respiratory diseases which currently – it was recalled during the event – represent the cause of death for over 50 thousand people every year and generate costs equal to 45.7 billion euros.
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