Burden of patients with multiple diseases could sink health systems around the world, warn medical experts
Tehran (KNA) - Health systems around the world must fundamentally restructure or collapse under the “tidal wave” of demand from people living with multiple serious health conditions, experts have warned.
In the NHS alone as many as 20 million people are living with two or more conditions and ineffective treatment is leading to escalating costs and early deaths.
The first report produced on the global burden of multimorbidity (multiple diseases) says it is an "enormous threat" affecting a quarter of the adult population and a billion people worldwide.
High income countries like the UK are seeing an "almost exponential increase" in health care costs where multimorbidity has risen, the report notes.
"We are facing a tidal wave of patients living with multiple long-term health conditions, and our report demonstrates how little we know about how to manage this," said Professor Stephen MacMahon, chair of the Academy of Medical Science's multimorbidity working group.
Rates of multimorbidity in the UK have rocketed in the past decade. One study included in the report shows that between 2002 and 2013 number of people over 50 with two or more diseases rose by half - from 31.7 per cent to 43.1 per cent.
Source: Independent