Skip to main content

Multiple Sclerosis

Tuesday May 22, I spoke in the Manitoba Legislature about Multiple Sclerosis on the occasion of the recognition of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month.   My comments are below and can also be seen on video at  this link.

Mr. Gerrard: Madam Speaker, as has been pointed out, Canada has the highest incidence of multiple sclerosis in the world, and within Canada, Manitoba has among the highest incidence and prevalence rates. It is therefore very important that we, in Manitoba, pay a lot of attention to multiple sclerosis and to those who have this condition. There are an estimated three and a half thousand Manitobans living with MS, and the direct costs of these are considerable, both personally and of course for the provincial government.
      Fortunately, there are many hard-working, devoted Canadians and particularly with the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada who are working tirelessly to do better in both preventing and treating multiple sclerosis. An example of recent work shows that levels of vitamin D and sunlight, when they are low, have been associated with multiple sclerosis for many years, but recently it's been found that genetic work showing individuals with genetic changes resulting in lower levels of vitamin D have a higher incidence of multiple sclerosis, linking this vitamin even closer to the development and progression of multiple sclerosis.
      We need to be investing in the research to improve the treatment and to improve the prevention of MS. Preventive research can be most effectively done in jurisdictions where the incidence of multiple sclerosis is highest. Manitoba needs to be a participant in trials looking at improved therapy and improved prevention.
      There's an important role for our provincial government in funding the research, given the scale of the trials which will be needed to look at effective preventive approaches. Manitoba should be a leader.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dougald Lamont speaks at Meth Forum last night to present positive ideas to address the epidemic, while exposing the lack of action by the Pallister Conservatives

Last night at the Notre Dame Recreation Centre in St. Boniface, at an Election Forum on the Meth Crisis in Manitoba, Dougald Lamont spoke eloquently about the severity of the meth epidemic and described the Liberal plan to address it.  The Liberal Plan will make sure that there is a single province-wide phone number for people, or friends of people, who need help dealing with meth to call (as there is in Alberta) and that there will be rapid access to a seamless series of steps - stabilization, detoxification, treatment, extended supportive housing etc so that people with meth addiction can be helped well and effectively and so that they can rebuild their lives.  The Liberal meth plan will be helped by our approach to mental health (putting psychological therapies under medicare), and to poverty (providing better support).  It will also be helped by our vigorous efforts to help young people understand the problems with meth in our education system and to provide alternative positive

Manitoba Liberal accomplishments

  Examples of Manitoba Liberal accomplishments in the last three years Ensured that 2,000 Manitoba fishers were able to earn a living in 2020   (To see the full story click on this link ). Introduced a bill that includes retired teachers on the Pension Investment Board which governs their pension investments. Introduced amendments to ensure school aged children are included in childcare and early childhood education plans moving forward. Called for improvements in the management of the COVID pandemic: ·          We called for attention to personal care homes even before there was a single case in a personal care home. ·            We called for a rapid response team to address outbreaks in personal care homes months before the PCs acted.  ·          We called for a science-based approach to preparing schools to   improve ventilation and humidity long before the PCs acted. Helped hundreds of individuals with issues during the pandemic including those on social assistance

The Indigenous Science Conference in Winnipeg June 14-16

  June 14 to 16, I spent three days at the Turtle Island Indigenous Science Conference.  It was very worthwhile.   Speaker after speaker talked of the benefits of using both western or mainstream science and Indigenous science.  There is much we can learn from both approaches.   With me above is Myrle Ballard, one of the principal organizers of the conference.  Myrle Ballard, from Lake St. Martin in Manitoba, worked closely with Roger Dube a professor emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology, and many others to make this conference, the first of its kind, a success.  As Roger Dube, Mohawk and Abenaki, a physicist, commented "My feeling is that the fusion of traditional ecological knowledge and Western science methodology should rapidly lead the researchers to much more holistic solutions to problems."   Dr. Myrle Ballard was the first person from her community to get a PhD.  She is currently a professor at the University of Manitoba and the Director of Indigenous Science