Wyeth Pharma supports launch of first regional patient assessment program in rheumatoid arthritis

The program, an educational grant from Wyeth for the rheumatology community, is designed for use by rheumatologists across the Middle East and North Africa region.

The web-based program can track a patient's improvement with his or her current treatment, and allows rheumatologists to conduct long term follow-up for RA disease activity.

A chronic autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis affects one per cent of the population, and three times more women than men. It is an inflammatory disease, in which the body's immune system attacks the joints, such as those in the hands, knees, elbows and ankles, and the surrounding soft tissues, with potentially crippling consequences.

The portal, accessible at www.rheum-me.com, prompts the user to provide specific information in relation to patient demographics, diagnosis, disease severity scores, co-existing conditions such as heart disease or diabetes, treatment history and current treatment.

Dr. Mustafa Al Izzi, Consultant Rheumatologist at Mafraq Hospital and moderator of the UAE Rheumatology Club, said: 'The patient assessment program will give rheumatologists a tool to unify measures for disease activity. We hope that this database will facilitate the day-to-day activity of doctors and improve the diagnosis and management of the disease in treating our RA patients.'

The program will be managed by IT software company Medsites to ensure patient confidentiality. Mr. Hisham El Khatib, Managing Director of Medsites, said access to specific patient information will only be available to the treating physicians.

The patient assessment program will also allow doctors to evaluate patient information through a reporting system. Dr. Amgad Gamil, Regional Medical Manager Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Middle East and North Africa, said: 'The system will facilitate the creation of local and regional clinical demographic as well as clinical data for RA patients, follow-up of disease severity measures and assessment tools, and for the first time allow the development of accurate, much needed, health data to improve the management of the disease across the region.'