The tenth jubilee edition of the "MS Walk" will once again mark World Multiple Sclerosis Day through the action "Every step counts". In 12 cities across Croatia of 25. to 30. May they will walk for those who cannot, with strong messages and goals sought by over 7.000 patients in Croatia from this progressive and incurable disease.
10 YEARS OF STRUGGLE - WORLD MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS DAY (May 30)
The quality of life of the patients is what they have been working on for years, and the situation is said to have become even more complicated this year.
- We started the first MS Walk because Croatia had poor criteria for the treatment of MS, and with this campaign we fought for better criteria, namely that MS is treated immediately after diagnosis. Today, we can say that access to therapies to slow down the disease is good in Croatia, and now we are advocating that patients get a real MS center where they would have a consultative approach to treatment, all necessary therapies and necessary rehabilitation. The biggest problem is still the employability of people with disabilities, because people with disabilities are often dismissed along with their diagnosis. she pointed out Mirjam Jukić from MS Team Croatia Association noting that every sick person should have access to quality treatment regardless of their place of residence.
However, the new legal provisions that came into force also concern patients with multiple sclerosis, which brought additional problems. - The well thought-out system of issuing national identity cards for people with disabilities has shown all the mess in the system of expertise that is witnessed by the patients. The system of expert examination and exercise of rights needs to be much better regulated, because currently patients with multiple sclerosis are afraid of announcements of changes in the system of issuing driver's licenses for certain diagnoses, including ours. adds Jukić.
53 million steps that brought change
In order to draw attention to themselves, locations throughout Croatia will be "painted" orange during May, because awareness of life with MS and the daily struggle of sufferers has never been more important. This year, too, the steps taken in the campaign will be counted in order to sensitize the public to the problems faced by patients in Croatia.
The incredible figure shows persistence in this because in the last 10 years for the time "MS Walk" they have done it 53 million steps, that is, passed 40 thousand kilometers for those who can't. With the action, they also want to support new scientific research, because the ultimate goal of all sufferers in the world, and there are as many as 3 million of them, is to find a cure for this disease that affects all age groups. They also want to empower patients and encourage them to move, exercise, socialize and share experiences.
Thanks to this very manifestation, in recent years, patients have put pressure on decision-makers and changed the treatment criteria, which were bad for Croatia at the time.
The main celebration for the 10th time at Zagreb's Bundek
The most massive gathering will be this year as well on Zagreb's Bundek where World MS Day will be observed 27. May from 17 p.m. to hold a mass action with participants from all over Croatia.
The walk of the sick and the people who will support them around Lake Bundek will symbolically show that the fight is still going on and that the efforts are still far from the goal.
Part of the program is also the traditional MS talk, in which professor Mario Habek from the reference center for multiple sclerosis KBC Zagreb will take part this year, Goran VInčić will give a stand-up performance, and the Trešnja band will perform in the musical part.
All citizens are invited to join in one of the cities participating in the action, walk, count your steps and publish them on your own social networks and on the social networks of the MS TIM Croatia Association with the hashtag #HodajZaOneKojiNeMogu. The main message this year is positive attitude despite the diagnosis with the most important appeal - that of finding a cure as soon as possible.
