“Patient compliance as the key to treatment success,” was the topic of a debate held in Seville, organized by the Spanish Adamed representative office in collaboration with the Parliament of Andalusia.

After last year’s highly popular debate, Adamed, acting through its Spanish representative office Adamed Laboratorios, again decided to address health in a series of debates organised in coordination with the parliaments of Spanish autonomous communities. This year’s first debate, entitled: “Patient compliance as the key to treatment success” was held in Seville. The invited healthcare experts, medical doctors of various specialties and politicians all emphasized the importance of patient compliance as one of the key success factors in achieving positive treatment outcomes.

The event, organised by Adamed, was opened by Jesús Aguirre Muñoz, President of the Parliament of Andalusia, and Francisco Javier Domingo, CNS Business Unit Manager at Adamed Laboratorios. The debate was attended by politicians representing various parties, as well as by leading healthcare experts specializing in various therapeutic areas.

A global challenge

Lack of patient adherence is a massive problem all over the world. Taking at least 80% of the recommended drug doses is assumed as a criterion which determines patient compliance. Research shows that in the case of chronic diseases, the adherence rate does not exceed 50%. This means that only one in two patients can be effectively treated. The statistics are a bit better for short-term treatment – in this case, 38% patients do not follow medical recommendations.[1]

This is why Adamed, acting through its representative office, decided to create a space for a debate and exchange of experience related to this challenge. Everyone unanimously stated that it is essential to promote joint initiatives, such as this debate, to ensure better adherence.

In his opening remarks, D. Jesús Aguirre Muñoz, President of the Parliament of Andalusia, emphasized that:

The approach to patient compliance, both from a scientific and a political point of view, on a health-related and economic level, is an extremely important issue that concerns and affects us all. The degree to which patients feel their doctor’s empathy affects whether they will indeed comply with their recommendations.

Francisco Javier Domingo of Adamed Laboratorios underscored:

“Correct adherence to the prescribed medication regimen is necessary for a satisfactory clinical reaction to be obtained in the treatment of any disease. The aim is to improve quality of life and avoid unwelcome consequences, such as disease chronicity, incorrect self-medication, excessive consumption of medicines stocks and disease recurrence.”

The same position was expressed by Víctor Millán, Cardiology Business Unit Manager at Adamed Laboratorios, who also said:

“The clinical vision of the importance of adherence must clearly converge with the institutional vision – which should propose such activities that will improve patient compliance.”

According to D. Diego Vargas, Managing Director of the Andalusian Healthcare Service:

“Solving the problem of non-adherence is among the priorities of the Andalusian Healthcare Service. We are highly committed to the development and implementation of centralised strategies which will define the activities of health professionals in this field, along with educational activities for citizens and training programmes for health professionals involved in prescribing pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments to patients.”

Debates about health

Adamed initiated a series of debates about health in Spain last year. A conference entitled: “Mental Health and Suicide: Our Society’s Problems” was first held in Madrid. It brought together key decision-makers and members of the Spanish Agency for Medications and Medicinal Products. The event was closely followed by many media outlets which reported on the proceedings, thus increasing social awareness of this serious problem.

In response to Spain’s health challenges, this year Adamed will organise four debates, creating a space for experts to share experience and address the most relevant topics. The opening debate in Seville will be followed by others in Madrid, Galicia and Catalunya.

[1] Winnicki M., Basiński K., Szyndler A., Chrostowska M., Narkiewicz K., Jak poprawić stopień przestrzegania zaleceń terapeutycznych i jakość współpracy lekarz–pacjent? (How to improve the degree of patient adherence to treatment and the quality of doctor-patient collaboration?), “Choroby serca i naczyń 2016” (Cardiovascular Diseases 2016), vol. 13, no. 3, p. 195