Survey on Patient Assistance Programs for Auto-Immune Disease Patients

Auto-immune diseases are one of the greatest health challenges of our time, and a leading cause of death in every corner of the world. Currently, around 40 % of all deaths occur due to auto-immune diseases in developing countries. Proper treatment is one of the major and important aspect in the medical industry. Many pharmaceutical industries have various programs in developing countries for tackling the costs of care. Treatment is only one aspect. Many patients are unable to afford the costs of the medications and hence treatment becomes difficult. There are many patient assistance programs by the pharmaceutical companies to ease the financial burden on such patients. PAPs are a diverse collection of programs that vary in how they obtain funding, what steps they take to ease the burden and how these steps are implemented. Sadly, not many patients are aware of these programs due to lack of knowledge and awareness by the pharmaceutical companies and the medical practitioners. These programs are an underused, inexpensive methods to tackle the financial obstacles of treatment and care. The patients can be made aware of these programs by campaigns and awareness programs. Surveys and studies have shown that most of the patients are in need of an assistance program for their treatment. Pharmaceutical companies have specific criterias for offering their assistance programs, which include the financial status of the patient, age and the severity of the disease. The surveys were done using electronic reviews, telephonic surveys, asking patients and pharmaceutical companies with specifically designed questionnaires. Most of the companies base their eligibility of the PAP on basis of income. Many companies are not willing to disclose their income criteria. If more companies take part in the PAPs, it will be a very beneficial move towards the treatment of patients in the country.