- Internationally recognized treatment guidelines recommend the use of inexpensive disease-arresting medications within the first weeks of confirming a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.
- Early, aggressive, and sustained use of disease-arresting medications can stop inflammation and prevent joint damage. Failure to adopt these treatment guidelines can result in long-term disability, future need for more expensive biologic medications, joint surgeries, and potentially premature death.
- BC research has shown that family physicians in BC are only using the recommended "first-line" medications for 10% of their rheumatoid arthritis patients.
- 50% of people with rheumatoid arthritis in BC, who are receiving medical treatment for their disease, are not being treated by a rheumatologist.
- In many rural communities in BC there are insufficient health professionals to provide age-appropriate musculoskeletal examination and treatments.
- The cost of not providing the best care is rising: arthritis is now the number one reason a person over the age of 65 visits their family physician.
- Providing health care professionals with access to the right information, tools and medication strategies for effective arthritis care means better health outcomes and less cost to our medical system.
Equitable care