News

World Brain Day 2021 is dedicated to multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurological disease that affects 2.8 million people of all ages globally. Disease-modifying treatments slow the progression of MS, yet access to these medications is unavailable in many parts of the world. 

On World Brain Day, 22rd July the Neurological Alliance of Ireland (NAI) are launching their report on online service provision across neurological care services in response to COVID19. When the pandemic hit in 2020, many services moved online resulting in significant changes for both service users and service providers.

The MS International Federation is delighted to be partnering with the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) this year on World Brain Day. The 2021 theme is Stop Multiple Sclerosis.

As part of the 2021 World Brain Day campaign, the WFN and MSIF are inviting those with multiple sclerosis, their loved ones, healthcare professionals, multiple sclerosis organisations and everyone else to join in to raise awareness to stop multiple sclerosis through the use of the hashtag #WorldBrainDay2021.

Services Questionnaire: COVID-19 has changed the way we normally deliver group programmes. The purpose of this short, anonymous questionnaire is to find out what your preferences are for classes, groups and information services into the future. This will help us to plan how groups and services will be delivered. As always, our ability to provide group programmes and classes varies from county to county as this depends on funds and resources available in each area. There are 12 short questions and it will take you approximately 5 minutes to complete. Please click the link below.

Thank you.

You can complete the survey in the link below

I was diagnosed with MS twenty-five years ago last January.

Twenty-five years! A full quarter of a century!

So, what’s the difference between now compared to the day of my diagnosis? That day in 1996 I was pretty normal, with a very slight numbing sensation in my right shoulder and down my right arm. Today, MS has taken a significant toll on me, leaving me with fatigue, brain fog, a bad (*very* noticeable) limp in my right leg and very frequent bouts of extreme facial pains.

MS Ireland would like to congratulate Prof. Alan Thompson on winning the 2021 Charcot Award. The Charcot Award recognises a lifetime achievement in outstanding research into understanding and treating MS.  Prof. Thompson who is the Dean of the Faculty of Brain Sciences at UCL in the UK, is a long-time supporter of MS Ireland who has focused his 40-year career on the care and treatment of people living with MS.

The paints dance across the page, running into each other in ways you hadn’t planned but looking all the more beautiful for it.

It’s like an analogy for life really. No matter what way you plan, life will do its own thing but that doesn’t mean it’ll be any less beautiful and worthwhile

This year Father’s Day for me is bittersweet. Last May, I lost my father suddenly aged 60. His departure from this world was shocking and just like MS, it came in the blink of an eye and my whole life changed.

When I was asked to write this piece on access my head immediately spun. There are so many topics to choose from such as access to parking, buildings, medications, services …the list is endless!

 

ln the end I chose how we were accessing the services we need in the new world we are going to be living in. This virus came from nowhere and ripped through our communities.   Our lives have been turned upside down and we’ve had to find new ways of living. The question we need to ask is will some of these changes stay with us even after the pandemic has passed?

Applications are now open for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland's annual awards. Nominate someone special today.