Biogen and the Douglas Grant Rehabilitation Centre, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, Scotland have announced the launch of multiple sclerosis awareness campaign, 1MSg (One Message), on World MS Day, encouraging ‘lost’ MS patients to re-engage with the support available to them.
Research conducted by the MS Trust found that one in 10 people living with MS had seen neither an MS-specialist nurse nor a neurologist in the past year1, and so will not have received the comprehensive annual review recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)2. In addition to this, there are a number of people with MS not currently known to MS-specialists at all – those ‘lost to follow-up’. A report published by the MS Society demonstrates that there is now consensus amongst MS experts to indicate that early treatment is key in improving long-term health outcomes, slowing down irreversible damage, and reducing relapses3.
The 1MSg campaign encourages people with MS to ‘take control and know their choices’, and the Douglas Grant Rehabilitation Centre calls on patients to come back and find out what options may be available to them. Dr Jenny Preston, Consultant Occupational Therapist, Clinical Lead Neurological Rehabilitation Douglas Grant Rehabilitation Centre, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, said:
This campaign underlines the importance for people living with multiple sclerosis to get in touch with us if they haven’t had a review appointment for more than year. It is vital that we keep in touch with our patients so we are aware of how they are managing their health. We can also keep them up-to-date with new medications and treatments that could really benefit them.
Find out more at www.1msg.co.uk/
