Abu Dhabi (WAM)
The United Arab Emirates celebrates World Multiple Sclerosis Day, which falls on May 30 of each year for the second year in a row, with a series of initiatives organized by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in the UAE. This year’s World Multiple Sclerosis Day campaign aims to raise awareness in the UAE, call for constructive cooperation between concerned parties to improve the lives of people living with multiple sclerosis, and harness resources to intensify research aimed at finding a cure for multiple sclerosis.
His Highness Sheikh Theyab bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office for Development Affairs and Families of Martyrs, appreciated the efforts made that contribute to improving the lives of those living with multiple sclerosis, praising His Highness the efforts of doctors, caregivers, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in the country, and their ongoing initiatives to care for those living with it. . His Highness stressed the support of all medical care providers by advancing ambitious research and studies that will contribute, God willing, to reaching a cure. His Highness noted that the UAE continues to support and coordinate global efforts aimed at combating multiple sclerosis, to achieve a future free of multiple sclerosis.
The celebrations of World Multiple Sclerosis Day this year included the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s organization of the “Multiple Sclerosis Council… Shaping a Supportive Future for People Living in the UAE,” which included various government agencies and the main regulatory bodies concerned with health care. During the Council, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society announced the formation of the “National Multiple Sclerosis Partnership,” a collaborative framework that brings together government agencies, health care providers, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and educational entities, which enhances the Society’s mission to provide support and resources, and lead research on multiple sclerosis.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Partnership has set three main goals: ensuring a practical approach to implementing the National Multiple Sclerosis Agenda, providing a forum for national cooperation, exchanging knowledge, and introducing multiple sclerosis in the UAE, establishing a formal mechanism to achieve the priorities of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and defining the roles and responsibilities of the various members of the Partnership.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Partnership includes in its membership this year the founding partners, and is working in stages to involve governmental, non-governmental and private organizations, through regular meetings to address challenges, track progress and measure impact according to the key performance indicators set for them, so that this systematic approach ensures the provision of continuous support to confront multiple sclerosis in UAE.
This year’s World Multiple Sclerosis Day focuses on “diagnosis”, in a direct call to improve the mechanisms of early and accurate diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, highlighting the global barriers to its timely diagnosis, and encouraging proactive health care measures to address any shortcomings or gaps in Providing comprehensive care and specialized services. To fill these gaps, the MS Council called for the development of a national action plan for MS in the UAE, and the establishment of a support system for those living with it.
The Council’s agenda focused on identifying gaps in available data and ways to address them, to improve health care outcomes for people living with multiple sclerosis, while giving priority to the issue of funding research dedicated to finding a cure for multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Fatima Al Kaabi, Director General of the Emirates Drug Corporation, Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Bone Marrow Transplantation Program at the Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Centre, and Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in the Emirates, pointed to the achievements of two years of work with and for the multiple sclerosis community in the Emirates, and said: This year, we took World Multiple Sclerosis Day as a starting point to take the necessary measures to introduce multiple sclerosis and support those living with it. We commend the joint efforts made by the public, society and private sector institutions to confront the challenges posed by multiple sclerosis, and by bringing together the main stakeholders in the country to advance the agenda. National Center for Multiple Sclerosis, we witness what the power of collaboration can achieve, and what we can accomplish together.
Al Kaabi added that the National Multiple Sclerosis Society works to raise awareness of multiple sclerosis and its symptoms, focuses on the importance of accurate and rapid diagnosis, and also encourages research that creates a sustainable impact on finding a cure for it in the future.
Dr. Fatima Al Kaabi revealed on the sidelines of the Council’s event at the Erth Hotel that about 19 cases out of every 100,000 people in the Emirates are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis among young people during one year, stressing the importance of raising awareness of this disease in addition to the speed of diagnosis.
She stressed the need to listen to the needs of those infected, including themselves, so that their needs can be met more quickly. She said that the association aims to motivate society to support those living with the disease in various ways with in-kind or material contributions, and to support them as well through a medical advisory committee in terms of psychological and health aspects, and to provide assistance materials and resources for them. And guide them to follow a healthy life.
As part of the World Multiple Sclerosis Day celebrations, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in the Emirates organized interactive activities to engage the community in supporting people living with multiple sclerosis, as it set up a platform at the Galleria Mall from May 24 to 26, 2024, in the presence of Dr. Ahmed Shatila, Neurology Consultant. Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic at Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, recipient of the Abu Dhabi Award for 2024, and one of the most prominent supporters of the multiple sclerosis community, for his role in supporting the multiple sclerosis community and providing care to more than 400 people living with multiple sclerosis. He provided the audience with an explanation of the nature of multiple sclerosis, explained its symptoms to raise awareness of it, answered their questions, and stressed the importance of early diagnosis.
Dr. Ahmed Shatila said that when he was twenty-one years old, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He was a medical student at the time, where he graduated and had a desire to learn more about this disorder, which prompted him to become a neurologist.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society supported the “Multiple Sclerosis Awareness” walk on May 26 at Yas Mall, which was organized by Emirates Steel and the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, in order to integrate society into the movement to support people living with multiple sclerosis, increase public awareness of it, and with the participation of community members in the walk. This indicates the country’s increasing public support for people living with multiple sclerosis.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society collaborated with more than 60 cafes in the UAE to launch a community awareness campaign from May 30 to June 2, 2024, in which cafes distribute to their guests information materials about multiple sclerosis prepared by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to achieve maximum impact. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has prepared video clips under the title “Multiple Sclerosis Heroes,” through which it highlights a number of people living with multiple sclerosis, to explain their views and lifestyles, in a positive way that reflects their adaptation to symptoms, and shows that life with multiple sclerosis is possible. These videos are available on the association’s website, and through these videos, the association aims to effectively address misconceptions and negative stereotypes about multiple sclerosis.
#Theyab #bin #Mohammed #UAE #supports #global #efforts #combat #multiple #sclerosis