Mar 25, 2009
Local residents help take multiple sclerosis issues to Capitol Hill
New York, NY - Manhattan residents Lori Bores and Fiona Hoey recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet members of Congress and represent the interests of those affected by multiple sclerosis.
As two out of hundreds of MS activists in attendance at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society 2009 MS Public Policy Conference, Bores and Hoey met with Congress Members Clarke, Engel, Maloney, Serrano and Towns at the nation’s capitol.
“It is important that those of us who are fortunate enough to have a voice use it,” said Bores. “It would be great if everyone living with MS would become an MS activist.”
The delegation from the New York City Chapter of the National MS Society included Bores and Hoey along with MS specialists, Dr. Fred Lublin and Dr. Aaron Miller from the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Volunteers Nina Epps of the Bronx and Ken Bandler of White Plains were also in attendance. The group met with 10 NYC based members of Congress.
“You never know where you will end up when you go to Capital Hill,” said Hoey. “I have met with senior health aides in the hallway, interns in the receiving area, or, if luck and timing collide, representatives in their office. Such was the case with Congressman Ed Towns. Not only was he informedon the issues important to the MS community, but he is incredibly supportive of what we do.”
During these visits, Bores and Hoey urged Congress to:
• Undertake comprehensive and meaningful healthcare reform in the 111th Congress
• Allocate $15 million for MS research from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
• Establish a national MS disease registry for accurate information about its incidence and prevalence
Learn more about the NYC Chapter's advocacy efforts and how you can become an MS activist!
About the New York City Chapter
The New York City Chapter of the National MS Society is committed to helping the thousands of New Yorkers impacted by MS continue moving their lives forward. The chapter raises funds locally to support the Society’s critical research initiatives and to provide hundreds of comprehensive support services and educational programs to people living with MS, their family and friends.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS. In 2007 alone, through our home office and 50-state network of chapters, we devoted over $136 million to programs that enhanced more than one million lives. To move us closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested over $50 million to support 440 research projects around the world. We are people who want to do something about MS NOW. Join the movement.
Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis. To learn about the options, individuals should talk to their health care professionals and contact the National MS Society at www.nationalMSsociety.org or 1-800-344-4867 (1-800-FIGHT-MS).
About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body and it stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.5 million worldwide.
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