World MS Day - 1 week to go

With only one week to go until World MS Day 2010, MS activists in more than 50 countries are working hard to make sure their activities go off with a bang on 26 May.

In Palestine, a full programme of events includes a meeting with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health to discuss the issues faced by people with MS.

In Morocco, media interest has been high and the Society has been invited to participate in a special edition of a popular television show called "Ask the Doctor". The focus of this episode will be MS.

In the USA, the NMSS has launched a text-to-give campaign to enable supporters to donate at any time of the day or night. Individual supporters, like Scott from Ohio, will be raising awareness of MS in their local communities by wearing a World MS Day T-shirt and talking to friends, family and colleagues about the disease.

What will you do?

Why not think about what you can do to raise awareness of MS where you live on World MS Day? Here are some ideas to get you started:

• email a link to the World MS Day website to friends and family and ask them to join the global movement
• if you run a website or a blog, add the World MS Day logo to your site
• invite your colleagues at work or school to a short presentation about MS
• throw a dinner party to raise money for MSIF or your local society

Send photos and videos of your events to ayesha@msif.org to share them with the world.

To find out how World MS Day will be celebrated in your country, contact your local MS society - find their contact details on www.worldmsday.org

For ideas about how to give a dinner party, see the MS Society of Canada's website

Two weeks to go until World MS Day 2010

Activities have already started in the run up to World MS Day.

In Denmark, a 'Researcher in a Box' has set off on a nationwide tour as part of the Danish MS month. He is scheduled to stop off in six locations. He certainly entertained this group of visitors during a shopping trip to their local shopping mall - watch the video.

This week marks the start of the Cannes (France) and Art Directors Club (Germany) film festivals. The World MS Day film 'Beautiful Day' has been entered into several categories, with the hope of reaching a wider audience and raising awareness about MS. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for some strong results.

In Turkey, activities for World MS Day and the Turkish MS Society’s MS Week include an exhibition of paintings of people with MS, which will be on display for ten days at one of Istanbul’s busiest shopping centres. On 26 May, there will be a bicycle tour of the city to raise money for the MS Society, and in the evening a musical extravaganza at the National Theatre with the MS Choir headlining. On 30 May, 350 people will attend a day-long conference with sessions led by doctors, physical therapists, dieticians, and people with MS.

In Chile, the MS Society has produced a colourful poster to raise awareness of MS and promote the day.



To find out how World MS Day will be celebrated in your country, contact your local MS society. To find their contact details visit www.worldmsday.org

With activities confirmed in 39 countries so far, plans to mark World MS Day 2010 are shaping up.

This week all eyes are on Germany, as an agreement with McDonalds, Burger King, 70 universities and a chain of shops selling electrical goods will see the World MS Day film being shown on more than 6,000 screens in almost 1,500locations across the country. This is a huge step forward in raising awareness of MS amongst the general public in Germany.

Raising awareness of MS is one of the key objectives of World MS Day and MS societies across the world have come up with innovative ideas to generate public interest. Australians will be wearing red lipstick and encouraging their friends, family and government to “Kiss goodbye to MS", in Chile volunteers will be handing out green apples to passers by (the apple is a symbol of the Chilean MS Society) and Romanian parliamentarians will be encouraged to join the movement in an educational session targeting MPs and public sector employees.

To find out how World MS Day will be celebrated in your country, contact your local MS society.

To find their contact details visit: www.worldmsday.org/global-map