Future of Management of Multiple Sclerosis in the Middle East: A Consensus View from Specialists in Ten Countries

Table 1

Outcome of the consensus process: principles that underpinned the expert’s vision of optimal MS care in the 21st century.

Initial principles identified by discussion	Core principles following the completion of the consensus process
(i) Commitment to research	(i) Commitment to research
(ii) Regulatory body education	(ii) Patient engagement and better communication with stakeholders
(iii) New endpoints in clinical trials	(iii) Regulatory body education and reimbursement
(iv) Healthcare and social care: personalised care	(iv) More therapy options with better benefit: risk ratios
(v) More therapy options	(v) Early diagnosis and management of MS
(vi) MS centres of excellence	(vi) Multidisciplinary MS centres
(vii) Informed, shared decision-making
(viii) Better communication between stakeholders
(ix) Cost and reimbursement
(x) Drugs with better risk: benefit profiles
(xi) Early treatment
(xii) Patient engagement and enablement

The consensus process included questions and discussions leading to some merging or modification of original principles that expressed similar or overlapping aspirations for MS care; accordingly items in the right column are not identical to those in the left column from which they were derived. See text for further details.