They held a special event to mark the occasion, consisting of a medical symposium, a reflection on MSSI’s 25 year history, and a fundraising seminar. Celebrations continued into the night with a musical evening, dinner and dancing.

The Bengaluru Chapter hosted the event and more than 100 health professionals, people with MS and their families attended.

The anniversary was preceded by the MSSI’s AGM on Saturday 24 July. Delegates from eight of the society’s nine chapters attended and presented the work they had been doing over the past year. It was clear from the presentations that all the chapters offer people affected by MS in their region a range of services, often in very challenging circumstances.

The challenges of low public awareness of MS and little state provision for those with the disease have not stopped the society from carrying out advocacy work in addition to service provision; starting a youth MS group and working with new media.

The AGM was also an excellent forum for the delegates to share any problems they were experiencing and to seek advice from each other, on for example, the topics of fundraising, keeping MS in the media and the lack of specialist MS nurses in India.

In the evening the delegates enjoyed a traditional Bharatanatyam and Kuchupudi dance performance by a group from the Shree Ramana Maharishi Academy for the Blind.

Zoe Burr, Head of International Development, represented MSIF and was honoured to take part in a Lighting of the Lamp ceremony before addressing the delegates. Zoe said she now had a better understanding of how MSSI works and where its strengths and needs are. This knowledge is essential to MSIF’s future project and programme planning.

"It is always a privilege and a pleasure to attend such events organised by our Member Societies and to hear about the amazing work going on at national and local levels."


Dancers from the Shree Ramana Maharishi Academy for the Blind