Multiple Sclerosis: An Ethnically Diverse Disease with Worldwide Equity Challenges Accessing Care

Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects approximately 2.9 million people in the world, exerting a significant economic and societal burden. The disease is increasingly identified among populations considered as uncommonly affected. MS is reported in all regions of the World Health Organization (WHO) member states in Africa, the Americas, South-East Asia, Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Western Pacific, affecting all ethnicities while exhibiting substantially variable prevalences. Countries with high MS prevalence and some with moderate frequencies generally have economically better structured healthcare systems. Nevertheless, health disparities in these countries are accentuated by suboptimal accessibility of care for their minorities, immigrants and other underserved populations. Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) might have an impact on morbidity and higher rates of disability. Large segments of the world population (i.e., African, Latin American, people from the Middle East and Southeast Asia) do not have access to adequate MS diagnostic procedures, compounded by reduced availability of neurologists. Healthcare disparities exist practically in every country of the world. Active wars and a large number of refugees resulting from conflict augments the challenges to healthcare systems. These global factors constitute obstacles to the adequate management of MS. A collective international path is required to facilitate access to highly effective, albeit onerous treatments, some already approved and being utilized, i.e., monoclonal antibodies and B-lymphocyte depletory agents, and others foreseen in the future as advanced therapeutic molecules continue to develop.