THE MAY 50K IS ABOUT HOPE, THAT TOGETHER WE CAN RAISE FUNDS FOR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS.
There are over 2.8 million people around the world living with MS, and over 90,000 in Canada alone. In every country, life is different, which is why MS Canada has teamed up with the MS International Federation so we can all leave MS where it belongs, behind us.
MS Canada are leaders in the MS International Federation. Together we have committed to increase funding for vital MS research worldwide, and improve access to effective treatment for everyone – no matter where they live.
The May 50K is one of the most important ways we can help achieve those goals, so the only thing we leave behind us is our limits. By taking part in The May 50K you can support national and international collaborations that can speed up research and reduce duplication of effort.
Be part of a faster, more connected world of research! When you leave your limits behind in The May 50K we can help improve access to treatment in Canada, and take the fight to the global level. We are stronger when we all run together! 70% of the money you raise when you take part in The May 50K in Canada will fund research and work to improve access to treatment led by MS Canada.
The other 30% will fund international research collaborations (which may also include Canadian researchers!), and global efforts to improve access to treatment. When you take part in The May 50K you are a national AND global superstar!
Canada
Let’s leave MS behind
We don’t care where the answers to MS come from, we just want them fast. Last year you helped fund 10 grants to researchers from Iran, Zambia, Brazil, Turkey, and Argentina. Research will now be carried out in areas including MS progression, and managing symptoms. This year you can ensure more brilliant young researchers and the most promising projects continue to get funded, no matter where they come from. Now you can also fund research in Canada.
A World of MS
Essential Medicines
The World Health Organization (WHO) has a List of Essential Medicines that many countries use as a reference when deciding which treatments they should fund nationally. There has never been a single MS treatment on that list to date. For people living in low to middle-income countries particularly, this makes it very difficult to get treatment, or even to campaign for treatment. MSIF is working with world-renowned experts to try and change this. Your support is driving that work.
Advocacy
For many people, MS treatments are either unaffordable or unobtainable. It doesn’t have to be like this. MS organizations have demonstrated that smart advocacy changes laws and changes lives. Just last year we helped Moroccan MS societies lead changes to the law that made MS treatments cheaper for everyone. Improving access to treatment needs global and national action and you are helping to create unstoppable momentum.
Improving Research
Putting people with MS at the heart of research
An international team of people living with MS and scientific experts are working to create a system for measuring the real-life impact of MS treatments on people’s quality of life. Their goal is to create a system that will lead to the development of new treatments that impact more of the things that matter to people with MS, and help people choose the treatment that is right for them.
The International Progressive MS Alliance
The International Progressive MS Alliance is one of the most important global collaborations in the history of MS. Its funding of cutting-edge scientific research is beginning to show progress that many people living with progressive MS had long thought hopeless. For example, it recently announced that it may be possible to measure and even predict what the disease is doing with a simple blood test. If that is right, it could be a game-changer.
MS Canada
Our mission is to connect and empower the MS community to create positive change.
The MS Society of Canada strives to fund innovative and groundbreaking research that will discover the cause and cure for this disease, while providing accessible and trusted support to people affected by MS.
There have been incredible breakthroughs made and we still have more to achieve.
The MS International Federation
We bring together the work of MS organizations to help people affected by MS around the world. We strengthen those organizations in countries where there is little support for people with MS. We campaign for increased awareness of the disease, provide information to our members, and support international research into better treatments and ways to manage the disease.
To find out more about how the MS International Federation works with your national MS organization please see our FAQ's
Leave your limits behind
We know you’ve got it in you to go the extra kilometre and be an active part of the change this May.
