KŠB Supports Multiple Sclerosis Patient Register06/12/13 / News

Remus is a unique Czech project designed for exchanging data on multiple sclerosis patients. The database links separate statistics kept by governmental health institutions, health insurance companies and professional medical societies, with anonymized data helping to serve scientific, statistical and economic purposes. KŠB provided pro bono advice on personal data protection issues.

The register currently works with data obtained from specialized healthcare centres, not from outpatient specialists. Exchanging medical data, such as regarding the stage of the illness, will help patients receive better treatment. This is desirable for medical as well as economical reasons. The Remus database was established by the Impuls Foundation last year after almost ten years of preparation and cooperation with the Czech Neurology Society. Patients who wish to join the register can visit their physician to sign a data processing consent form. The centre will then send the patient’s data to the Remus database twice a year.

Multiple sclerosis is a serious neurological condition that typically begins between the ages of 20 to 30. Although it is incurable at the moment, its progress can be slowed down. It is estimated that 17,000 to 19,000 people in the Czech Republic and 600,000 across Europe suffer from the disease.