LONDON, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Welcoming the launch of the consultation on social care reform, Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the MS Society, said: "We're acutely aware that most people with MS feel the social care system is failing them. The criteria for access to funding are too tight - the funding shortfall isn't 20 years away, it's with us right now.

"This consultation is a once in a generation opportunity for the government to fix social care. We need to make sure the young and disabled aren't left out because current provision for them is pitiful."

Background

There are 85,000 people with MS in the UK. Most are diagnosed in their 20s and 30s and it affects three times as many women as men. Symptoms include loss of sight and mobility, grinding fatigue, chronic nerve pain, depression, sexual dysfunction and incontinence. MS is incurable and there are few effective treatments.

For media enquiries and interviews please contact the MS Society press office on +44(0)20-8438-0782