Poland

Poland has a very high prevalence of MS, with 120 in 100,000 people affected. Around 500 people are newly diagnosed each year.

Government spending on health care as a percentage of GDP is relatively low, resulting in poorer treatment and quality of life for people with MS. Access to disease-modifying treatment provided is restricted. A limited number of people receive treatment at any one time, an a waiting list is in place. 

Although access to therapy for treating symptoms is relatively high, state reimbursement is modest. Less than one third of people have access to rehabilitation services and here too the waiting list is long.

Good points for Poland are that it has strong laws against discrimination in the workplace and that the country also scores well on empowerment of people with MS. In 2011, an MS parliamentary group from diverse political backgrounds was established to improve the situation of people with MS.

EMSP’s MS Barometer offers additional country insights. It also shows that access to treatment, therapies and employment varies greatly across Europe (MS BAROMETER)

Polskie Towarzystwo Stwardnienia Rozsianego (PTSR)

Pl. Konstytucji 3m. 72, 00-647 Warszawa - POLAND
Tel : +48 (22) 856 76 66 | Fax : +48 (22) 849 10 65 | E-mail : biuro@ptsr.org.pl |
Website : www.ptsr.org.pl

  • "The Kladko family are an example of resilience in hard circumstances. Both mother and daughter have MS. The daughter, Monika, is more severely affected: she's in a wheelchair and lives with her parents. The mother, Helena, uses crutches. She is totally devoted to her daughter and to the MS society in her city. The society and the City Council provide some help – and the Kladko family needs it because they have invested almost all their financial resources in the treatment. The father, Antony, worked for many years abroad as an engineer, trying to make money for his family. He even worked in Siberia, but it wasn't enough in terms of income.

    Monika benefited from the national Interferon programme, but according to the official policy this treatment was available for only three years. So she had to stop. Soon after, her health condition started degrading quickly.

    The story of the Kladko family is a perfect example of how the three-years-per-patient policy is fundamentally flawed.

    Despite all this, Monika keeps believing that she has to enjoy life – she writes poems that give her the 'vital strength' to keep going."

    Carlos Spottorno

    • Warsaw, Poland, 10/2011 • Ania Sczcepaniak tries to stand up after falling at the entrance of her building's door after a short walk to the bakery in her apartment complex. Like many PwMS, she is extremely sensitive to heat: it is as though her “battery charge” goes from “full” to “empty” in a matter of seconds. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Warsaw, Poland, 10/2011 • After being wiped out by heat during a short walk, Ania Sczcepaniak contemplates how she will get from the door to the sofa to rest. She finally opts to crawl, yet crossing the distance of 15 metres takes almost three minutes. Many PwMS admit that the disease “costs” them a lot of time. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Warsaw, Poland, 10/2011 • Ania Scepaniak does physiotherapy exercises at home to build strength and maintain flexibility. Poland has very few rehabilitation facilities and access is limited by the health insurance plan. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Warsaw, Poland, 10/2011 • Ania Sczcepaniak dreamed of being a model and actress; a friend photographed her often to make a portfolio. As it becomes increasingly difficult to move around even inside her flat, Ania must re-evaluate how and where she can work. She finds it harder to go to students as she did in the past, but hopes to continue teaching Polish at home. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Warsaw, Poland, 10/2011 • Ania Sczcepaniak is both ambitious and optimistic. She has worked as a Polish language teacher and journalist, and pursued both painting and acting. Now she wants to start her own business. Her husband, Krzysztof, is a realist and questions whether Ania will remain well enough to work. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Warsaw, Poland, 10/2011 • Walking in the woods near her family’s country home, Ania and Krzysztof Scepaniak share a happy moment, but also difficult memories. Three years after they married, Krzysztof encouraged Ania to see a doctor, who confirmed she had MS. The couple later learned that Ania was diagnosed 13 years earlier, but her father intervened to keep her from knowing. Ania calls her father a hero: his decision let her live a normal life. Krzysztof resents not having been told sooner. Credit: Car
    • Warsaw, Poland, 10/2011 • A recently diagnosed patient does rehabilitation exercises at the Institute of Neurology and Psychiatry in Warsaw. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Warsaw, Poland, 10/2011 • To improve balance, a patient at the Institute of Neurology and Psychiatry in Warsaw throws a ball against the wall and tries to catch the rebound. A physiotherapist stands close behind to offer support if she loses balance and starts to fall from the green cylinder. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Warsaw, Poland, 10/2011 • Low income plays a role in Jerzy Kopek’s lack of mobility. Both he and his wheelchair sit idle because he cannot afford to replace its dead battery. The red walker belongs to his wife, who also has MS and is in a hospital. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Radom, Poland, 10/2011 • Agnieska Juzimek does rehabilitation at Lukasz Purgal rehab Gym. Lukasz is a private physiotherapist who visits different MS patients at home, and he also owns a gym where people can go to do more exercises. This rehabilitation fees are partially covered by the MS society of Radom, for the members of the MS society. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Radom, Poland, 10/2011 • Like many PwMS, Helena Kladko enjoys being in the water, where buoyancy allows for easy movement. The City of Radom offers members of the local MS Society free access to the public swimming pool and spa. Monika easily acquires infections from swimming, so watches her parents from an observation deck. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Radom, Poland, 10/2011 • The Kladkos estimate that living with MS has consumed two-thirds of their net worth. Small gestures, such as an envelope with a few zlotys left by friends or free entry to the public pool, help to keep them afloat financially and psychologically. Many PwMS enjoy swimming: being buoyant in the water, they can move their limbs more easily. They feel more “normal”, less sick. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Radom, Poland, 10/2011 • Like many PwMS, Helena Kladko enjoys being in the water, where buoyancy allows for easy movement. The City of Radom offers people with disabilities free access to the public swimming pool and spa. For a family that keeps track of every zloty spent – and spends most of their meagre income on medication and therapy – such small gestures mean a lot. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Radom, Poland, 10/2011 • Monika Kladko receives electrotherapy every day for about 30 minutes. The treatment uses a mild electrical current to stimulate nerve fibres, thereby releasing endorphins (the body’s natural pain-killing chemicals). This service is provided by the MS Society in cooperation with the Radom City council. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Radom, Poland, 10/2011 • Helena and Monika Kladko live in a small apartment with their husband and father respectively. The corridor, as well as other parts of the apartment are equipped with handlers and other ergonomic devices to make it easier for Helena and Monika to walk around. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Radom, Poland, 10/2011 • Daily physiotherapy sessions are necessary for strength and flexibility, but leave Monika Kladko tired. Despite the reduced mobility that leaves her largely confined to home, Monika perceives herself as having a rich inner life. “I’m weaker, but I’m still the same person,” she says. “For better or worse, this life is simply mine and I’m glad I’m alive.” Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Radom, Poland, 10/2011 • In the 1990s when Monika Kladko was diagnosed with MS, her father Antoni began working abroad, where he could earn up to 10 times the salary possible in Poland. Part of his earnings went into building a home that could accommodate Monika as her condition worsened. Eventually, the Kladkos sold the home – having never lived in it – to pay for treatment. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Radom, Poland, 10/2011 • Antoni Kladko prepares a syringe with vitamins for his wife Helena, who had a relapse a few days before. For 15 years, Antoni worked abroad – in Iraq, Germany and Russia – to help pay for treatment for their daughter Monika, and then also for Helena. With Antoni now on disability for a heart condition, the family’s economic situation is difficult. But he is content to be home where he can help out in practical ways. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Radom, Poland, 10/2011 • Following a relapse, Helena Kladko is examined by neurologist Dr. Jolanta Wilczaw at the Centrum Specjalistycznej Opieki Ambulatorjnei. Helena senses that she is losing strength and functionality in her arm, so Dr. Wilczaw tests her reaction time. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    • Radom, Poland, 10/2011 • Monika Kladko smiles through the hole of a massage table. Both she and her mother, Helena, receive massage and physiotherapy every day at home. The service is provided and funded by the local MS Society. Credit: Carlos Spottorno
    Photographer:
    Carlos Spottorno

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