MS in the UK

Following on from my last post about MS in Canada, I now have figures for MS in the UK as a whole which are being put out by the MS Society as part of campaigning the parties in run up to Election 2015, in order to try and get MS a voice and  make the election candidates aware of the realities of living with MS, and encourage them to help change the way society talks about disability. 

MS in the UK: the facts

There are approximately 107.000 people with MS in the UK - so one in every 600 people has MS

5,000 people are newly diagnosed with MS each year- that's nearly 100 each week

75% of UL adults admit that they don't feel they know enough about MS and 49% of UK adults cannot name a symptom of MS

51% of UK adults believe that many peple falsely claim to be disabled only so they get disability beneift

In a survey of over 3000 disabled people from across the UK, 72% felt that society looked down on them because they need to claim disability benefits. 13% of respondents said they had been a victim of hate crime for the same reason 

A recent survey of chariy staff, volunteers, people affected by neurological conditions in England showed that 47% of people feel that local influencing has become more challenging since the changes to the health and social care system came into force, while 9% feel it has becme easier.

59% of campaigners in England have no engagement with Clinical Commissioning Groups, which decide how a large proportion of NHS money is allocated.