On World Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Day, Biogen Idec India launched an MS Day campaign to educate and empower the general public to understand the challenges of those who live with the disease. The campaign touched upon the need to provide accurate knowledge about MS to enable timely diagnosis and treatment for patients suffering from MS. This year the campaign leveraged social and electronic media to spread awareness about MS amongst general public in the country.

As a part of the campaign, Biogen Idec India supported a LIVE webcast in partnership with The Multiple Sclerosis Society of India (MSSI). The webcast, “Living Well with MS” was held on May 25, 2014. Over 600 patients and their care givers were able to connect with some of the country’s leading neurologists from the comfort of their homes. The neurologists discussed the course of the disease and answered questions on practical issues and lifestyle changes that could assist patients in managing their disease effectively.  Biogen Idec India also launched a video story series, “I am more than MS”, that showcases different patients talking about the challenges of living with MS. The videos focus on highlighting the individual and how they have addressed their fears and are living close to a normal life.

Sameer Savkur, managing director, Biogen Idec India said, “ As we continue our research and development efforts to identify new therapies across the globe, Biogen Idec India reaffirms its commitment to MS community in the country by spreading awareness about MS and its management amongst the patients, care givers and general public.

Through our patient support initiative, REACH-Access programme, we aim to facilitate access to therapy for MS patients in India. As part of the REACH-Access programme, Biogen Idec India provides free therapy support to patients in line with their income assessment done by an independent third party assessor. Approximately 65 per cent of patients registered with Biogen Idec REACH program have benefitted from the support, as the company is bearing almost 50 per cent cost of their therapy along with services like disease education, counselling, medication reminders and injection training for self-injectable therapies.”

Biogen Idec India also launched a “World MS Day Facebook like Contest” as part of their internal communication programme in the organisation. Biogen Idec India employees reached out to various corporate organisations and shared information with their employees through mailers educating them about Multiple Sclerosis and its prevalence in the country.

In celebration of World MS Day and as part of its ongoing mission to support MS patients globally, Biogen announced that it has joined the Sailing Sclerosis Foundation’s (SSF) Oceans of Hope project

as principal sponsor and official partner. This multi-year, global campaign is designed to use sailing as a means to educate and empower the MS community, changing perceptions of what it means to live with the disease and demonstrating the benefits of an active lifestyle.

The Oceans of Hope project was pioneered by Dr. Mikkel Anthonisen, Founder of SSF and a MS specialist at Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet. He and several other crew members, including some living with MS, will sail around the world, building strong bonds with the global MS community.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Symptoms may be mild or severe, ranging from numbness in the limbs to paralysis or loss of vision. The progression, severity and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from one person to another. MS affects more than 2.3 million people worldwide, with more than 500,000 sufferers in the European Union.  Relapsing forms of MS include: relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), the most common form of the disease accounting for 85 per cent of cases, which is characterised by clearly defined acute attacks with full recovery or with residual deficit upon recovery; and progressive-relapsing MS, which affects 5 per cent of people with MS and is characterised by steadily worsening disease from the beginning with occasional acute attacks like those experienced by people with RRMS.