Shortage of Rheumatologists in Alicante: Only 1.6 per 100,000 Inhabitants

Alicante and the Valencian Community face one of the highest shortages of rheumatology specialists in the country, with only 1.6 specialists per 100,000 inhabitants. In contrast, the national average is above two per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the EPISER Study data from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology.

The situation worsens considering that nearly one in four adults suffers from a rheumatic disease, amounting to around 1.2 million affected individuals in the Valencian Community. Moreover, experts explain that despite their prevalence, these diseases often remain largely unknown, potentially causing delays in early detection.

The president of the Valencian Society of Rheumatology, Dr. Pilar Bernabéu, highlighted this shortage during the XXVIII Congress recently held by the entity, warning: "Given the expected increase in musculoskeletal and systemic autoimmune diseases, it is necessary to increase the number of rheumatology specialists to provide adequate care to citizens."

In this regard, the specialist has offered to work jointly with Public Administrations to address this issue "considering the medium and long term, thus promoting an improvement in the early management of rheumatic diseases and preventing the emergence of more severe cases." She emphasized that if appropriate treatment is established in the early stages, in most patients, "irreversible damage can be avoided or prevented."

In her opinion, "in recent years, there has been a significant improvement in reducing diagnosis time for many conditions; however, there are areas that require improvement, such as spondyloarthritis or systemic autoimmune diseases (SADs), where Primary Care physicians should be able to identify symptoms to promptly refer patients to rheumatology specialists."

In this context, Dr. Bernabéu highlighted "advances in therapeutics and the pathogenesis of these conditions and is hopeful for a future that is heading towards Precision Medicine."