In support of World MS Day, Novartis announced the launch of the 7-Day Challenge to Live Like You for people with MS. The 7-Day Challenge to Live Like You, one of the first integrations of emerging technological trends by a pharmaceutical company, is simple: using wearable technology or accessing personal online systems that people use on a daily basis, including calendars, social media channels and fitness trackers, people with MS are invited to track their activities for seven days and gain valuable insights into what works best for their lifestyle. The 7-Day Challenge to Live Like You, which can be accessed via http://7daychallenge.tictrac.com, addresses the growing desire amongst the MS community to gather personalised information that will allow them to make decisions on how they can manage their lives with MS.

World MS Day was created by the Multiple Sclerosis International Foundation (MSIF) in 2009 to raise global awareness of MS and its impact on approximately 2.3 million people with MS around the world. This year's World MS Day campaign focuses on 'access'. Importantly, the topic of access spans beyond access to treatment in MS. Increasingly, there is a need for access to relevant and personalised online information that allows people to utilise available tools in order to make adjustments that can help them to manage their MS in a way that best suits their lifestyle.

"Novartis is a proud supporter of World MS Day, and we recognise the value of providing access to personalized information for the MS community," said David Epstein, Division Head, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. "As part of our commitment to providing innovative solutions that go beyond treatments, we are delighted to announce the launch of the 7-Day Challenge to Live Like You,  which will empower the MS community to gain valuable insights about themselves and their MS."

The 7-Day Challenge to Live Like You is a collaboration between Novartis and Tictrac, an innovative technology company with expertise in tracking user data and turning the data into unique perceptions (e.g. 'you're more active after a good night's sleep') that can help people with MS better understand their lifestyle in order to make small changes based on their new insights. Alongside the 7-Day Challenge to Live Like You, Novartis also recently launched Living Like You (www.livinglikeyou.com), an online resource community that features personal content for the MS community.

For people with MS, personalised information and tracking is essential because it can help with symptom management and take the guesswork out of what is and isn't working - and allow small changes that could help in achieving meaningful results. The tracking does not need to stop after the seven days are up; the 7-Day Challenge to Live Like You online tracking programme will still be available to the MS community, to empower people with MS to continue to gain valuable insights about themselves and how to better manage their life with this debilitating disease.