LONDON, January 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Following today's formal announcement by the Department of Health of the Health Bill and specifically the extension of personal budgets to healthcare for people with long term conditions, please find below a statement from the MS Society.

Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive of the MS Society, said extending direct payments into health was a welcome step.

He added: MS is a fluctuating and complex condition and people's needs can change from week to week, which is why it's so important to give people with MS as much choice and control as possible in how they access the healthcare they need.

- 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 more than 50 vital MS Research projects in the UK. - Multiple sclerosis is the most common disabling neurological condition 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