LONDON, January 10 /PRNewswire/ --

The MS Society has responded to the Health Select Committee's report on Session 2007-08 of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), to be published at 00.01am on Thursday 10 January.

MS Society chief executive, Simon Gillespie, said: "Five years ago this same Select Committee said NICE had to improve relationships with patient groups and there is still precious little evidence of this. We support calls to make the drug approval process more transparent and streamlined, and welcome proposals to ensure guidance is carried out more effectively by PCTs but there is still a long way to go."

For more information on the MS Society, visit http://www.mssociety.org.uk

Notes to Editors:

- The MS Society (http://www.mssociety.org.uk) is the UK's largest charity dedicated to supporting everyone whose life is touched by MS, providing respite care, an award-winning freephone helpline (0808-800-8000), specialist MS nurses and funds around 40 vital MS research projects in the UK.

- Multiple sclerosis is the most common disabling neurological disorder affecting young adults and an estimated 85,000 people in the UK have MS.

- MS is the result of damage to myelin - the protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres of the central nervous system - which interferes with messages between the brain and the body.

- For some people, MS is characterised by periods of relapse and remission while for others it has a progressive pattern.

- Symptoms range from loss of sight and mobility, fatigue, depression and cognitive problems. There is no cure and few effective treatments.

For media enquiries please contact the MS Society Press Office on +44(0)20-8438-0840, or the out of hours duty press officer on +44(0)7909-851401