Press Release

1st December 2006

Irish MEP’s Support People with Multiple Sclerosis

The second European MS awareness day took place recently in the European Parliament in Brussels. More than 20 MEP’s gave reassurances of their support in the fight to improve the lives of people with MS. Delegates from the national MS societies attended the Parliament Petitions hearing when 2 petitions, one from Ireland on behalf of people with MS, were heard. Irish MEP’s Prionsias de Rossa, Mairead McGuinness and Kathy Sinnott attended and spoke on the issues which centred on the availability and accessibility of drug treatments.

MS Ireland was represented at the hearing by Chairman Louise Wardell. Ms Wardell addressed the committee, commenting on the lack of Irish neurologists, the availability of medical treatments and the need for early and aggressive treatment in the initial stages of diagnosis. Ms Wardell said of the day,

“The European MS awareness day was a great success with issues affecting people with MS all over Europe being brought to the fore. The day gave us the opportunity to inform and educate those present and to provide a case for support for improved services across Europe.”

MS Ireland has recently taken a stronger stance on the lack of services for people with MS in Ireland. The publication of our first Pre-Budget Submission highlighted those issues of greatest concern to people with MS. Chief among them is the fact that Ireland has the worst neurological services in Europe with 1 neurologist per 200,000 of the population while Estonia has 24 for the same number of the population. The awareness day highlighted this issue and others at an European platform and will help the society to further advocate for those living with MS in Ireland.

EMSP, the European Multiple Sclerosis Platform who organised the day, also presented a draft ‘Code of Good Practice on The Rights of And Quality of Life of People Affected by Multiple Sclerosis’. This code consists of guidelines to ensure that MS patients in all member states are treated and cared for in accordance with the latest knowledge, that they remain integrated into the world of work and society as a whole, and receive adequate help and support to be able to manage living with MS. It is hoped that this will be adopted by all the Ministers of Health of member states.

EMSP is an European body consisting of 25 national MS Societies from the European Union along with 7 other non-member countries The purpose of the organisation is to exchange and disseminate information relating to multiple sclerosis considering all issues relevant to people affected by MS.

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Note to Editors:
MS Ireland is the only national organisation working solely on behalf of people living with Multiple Sclerosis and the many thousands of people who share their lives. MS Ireland exists to facilitate people with Multiple Sclerosis to control their lives and environment, to live with dignity and participate in the community. The Society provides a range of services to meet the needs of the MS Community. Members of the public with any queries relating to MS should call the MS Helpline on 1850 233 233. All calls are strictly confidential.

• Soft copy of our Pre Budget Submission can be downloaded at http://www.ms-society.ie/about/budgetsubmission.html

• Statistics of neurological services in Europe and other stats on MS can be sourced from the Atlas of MS. This is an online database complied by WHO, Multiple Sclerosis International Federation and European Multiple Sclerosis Platform. http://www.europeanmapofms.org/index.aspx

People with MS can be provided for interview should you wish to speak to someone directly affected by any of the issues raised in this document.

Prionsias de Rossa is a Labour MEP covering Dublin

Mairead McGuinness is a Fine Gael MEP covering Leinster

Kathy Sinnott is an Independent MEP covering the South

Events in South East Region
http://www.ms-society.ie/southeast/index.html