BCTRIMS: Impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on healthcare access for people with MS

ABSTRACT

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in disruptions in healthcare access for people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) all over the world. Different strategies were applied during the diverse phases of the ongoing pandemic, including the broad use of telehealth which is partially able to mitigate the impact on MS care. Nonetheless, MS is a complex condition and standard care involves multidisciplinary team assessments and frequently onsite medical interventions, which needed to be reinvented in a short time. Besides the physical distance, healthcare providers (HCPs) had to deal with the shortening of human and financial resources, with direct consequences on treatment decisions, especially in resource-limited settings. Additionally, Covid-19 affects the countries in different ways, and political, cultural, and socioeconomic factors determined distinct local responses to the pandemic leading to huge heterogeneity in healthcare access to all chronic neurological conditions. A more systematic approach is still necessary to bridge the gap between the accumulated knowledge on risk assessment of Covid-19 infection and vaccination in pwMS and effective disease-modifying therapies (DMT) choices. Finally, a joint effort from the scientific community and healthcare stakeholders should be encouraged to continue to use telehealth in a standardized way in order to expand access and reduce healthcare disparities.