At present in Europe there is very little data gathered about MS, its incidence, who is affected by it, who is taking what drugs as treatment, how MS impacts on the lives of people who are diagnosed, what supports are provided by governments and what needs to be provided for people with MS.

The MS-ID project consists of two priorities:

1. The development and piloting of a European Register on MS. This register will gather data on people with MS from organisations participating in the project.

2. Activation of the European Code of Good Practice in MS across the participating organisations with the eventual roll-out to all EMSP members.

The MS-ID project is seeking to:

- raise awareness across the EU on MS enabling stakeholders to better understand the disease and share information on: the positive impact of early diagnosis coupled with high-quality treatments, choice of therapies, sufficient social support, and the benefits of good MS management.

- identify and address the major inequalities of MS treatment and care across the EU through the development of new and effective strategies and indicators to measure performance. These will enhance the quality, comparability, applicability and transfer of both statistical and factual data as well as qualitative information on MS across EU Member States.

- use high-quality comparable data at EU and transnational levels to positively impact on EU/national policy and MS programmes and to ultimately empower EU citizens directly and indirectly affected by MS.

The European MS Platform (EMSP) is leading this project with active participation from six national MS societies in Germany, Iceland, Poland, Romania, Spain and the UK. The remainder of the EMSP membership base is also involved in contributing to the promotion and distribution of the project’s results.