Government & Community Relations
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How can you support our efforts?
- Talk to your MLAs about the issues below and then let us know the outcome of your meetings.
- Become a member
Access to equitable health services and MS therapies
Position Paper (pdf)
Although the provincial government sets province-wide goals, standards and performance agreements, MS is not included on the current list of priority diseases being addressed. As a result, there is inconsistent and inequitable implementation of primary care and enhanced chronic disease management across BC for people with MS.
MS neurologists agree that people with MS benefit from early treatment, to reduce the frequency and severity of attacks and to slow the progression of disability. In addition, people with MS rely on prescription drugs to treat a wide range of symptoms.
Unfortunately, the disease-modifying therapies and some of the symptom-management therapies are expensive. Discrepancies between private and public health benefits plans mean that people receiving provincial support don’t have the same drug coverage as people with private insurance.
What we want to change:
The MS Society wants to work with the provincial government, regional health authorities and a broad group of community and healthcare stakeholders to develop a province-wide primary care and chronic disease management strategy for MS.
The MS Society wants all disease-modifying drugs and symptom-management therapies available for sale in Canada to be listed on the provincial PharmaCare program.
Access to home care and age-appropriate long-term care
Position Paper (pdf)
Nearly 80 percent of people with MS are eventually unable to work full-time because of the severity and unpredictability of their symptoms. Limited housing and care choices, as well as reduced income, may result in younger adults with MS having to move into care settings that are totally inappropriate.
What we want to change:
Increased MS research
Position Paper (pdf)
Canada is a recognized leader in MS research, andmuch of this research is conducted in BC. However, as the small group of outstanding scientists and clinicians near retirement, replacing the loss of MS research expertise will be a tremendous challenge.
What we want to change:
The MS Society wants the provincial government to invest in the Society’s end MS Research and Training Network to recruit, train, support, and retain the next generation of MS researchers in Canada, and to accelerate their research activities to find a cure and improved treatments for MS.These are goals the MS Society is working towards in provinces across the country. They are also our national objective.
May 5, 2010 - MS Society lobbies government for $10 million for funding into CCSVI and MS research
Ottawa, May 5, 2010 – The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada is calling on the government to provide $10 million for research into chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) and MS. Read more.
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