Madam Chair, committee members, on behalf of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.
My name is Marie Vaillant, and I am a volunteer for the MS Society. Currently I am a member of the Ontario division board of directors, and I chair the Ontario client services committee.
With me is Deanna Groetzinger, MS Society vice-president of government relations and policy.
The MS Society is a founding member of Neurological Health Charities Canada, so while we will talk about issues that are important to people living with MS, this also impacts people living with other neurological conditions and episodic disabilities as well.
We echo the thanks of other NHCC members to the government for the support of the national population health study of neurological conditions. It will provide crucial information on the incidence and impact of neurological conditions in Canada.
The MS Society agrees with NHCC that it is time to develop a national brain strategy. Such a strategy will help greatly reduce the burden of neurological conditions in Canada. We urge the committee to recommend that a strategy be developed.
Today I will provide more details about one of the pillars of the strategy—income security. Deanna will then provide an update about progress in research on CCSVI and MS.
The MS Society has long been concerned about the toll MS has on the ability of people living with it to remain at work. Many people are diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 40, just when they are finishing school, starting careers, and beginning families. As the disease progresses, it takes a toll on a person's ability to stay in the workforce full-time. Over time, up to 80% of people with MS can no longer work. Unfortunately, for most people, not being able to work means having to live on extremely limited incomes.
Sometimes there is job loss because MS symptoms have become more severe. But at other times it's because of a lack of understanding and accommodation by employers and because of insufficient government supports. Many more people living with MS and other episodic disabilities and neurological conditions could remain at or return to work if greater assistance were provided.