What is it about?
South African cystic fibrosis (CF) patients have a life expectancy of 20.5 years; Canadian CF patients' life expectancy is 49.7 years. We compared South African and Canadian CF patient registry data to identify what might be contributing to this drastic difference in patient outcomes.
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Why is it important?
This is the first study to compare registry data from a high-income country, Canada, where CF patients typically have access to better healthcare resources, and data from a low- or middle-income country (LMIC), South Africa. We found that South African patients had worse lung function and nutritional status than their Canadian counterparts. Poor nutrition had a major impact on the patients' lung function. Cutting-edge medicine for CF patients is also too expensive to be widely accessible in South Africa, and there is no newborn screening programme. (Early diagnosis is known to help CF patients live longer & healthier lives). Therefore, designing interventions for South African CF patients (& patients in other LMICs) that focus on improving patient nutrition, implementing newborn screening programmes, and subsidising cutting-edge therapies should significantly raise CF patient life expectancy, offering hope for a better future.
Perspectives
It took significant effort to extract data from both registries in a way that made sure we were comparing apples to apples, but it was worth it! The fact that South African CF patients' life expectancy is less than half of Canadian CF patients' is alarming. However, our data gives clear steps that we can take to begin to raise life expectancy for CF patients in LMICs. This will be challenging, but it's a challenge we can overcome with the development of updated health policies and the crucial input of patient advocacy groups and pharmaceutical companies.
Dr Cheryl Stewart
University of the West Indies at Mona
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Global disparities in cystic fibrosis outcomes prior to CFTR modulators: A CF registries cohort study in South Africa and Canada, Journal of Cystic Fibrosis, September 2023, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcf.2023.09.003.
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