Subject
title
Proclamation Declaring March 8-14, 2026, as Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week
end
Department
City Clerk/Director of Council Operations Office
Recommendation
Staff recommends Mayor and Council read, approve, and present proclamation to Dr. Sadhana Jackson-Vivens, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Surgical Neurology Branch.
Discussion
During Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week, the National MS Society amplifies the voices of people living with MS. Together, we can raise awareness, create community, and stand up to this disease. The National MS Society will keep talking back to MS until we end MS for good.
Multiple sclerosis is a disease that causes breakdown of the protective covering of nerves. Multiple sclerosis can cause numbness, weakness, trouble walking, vision changes and other symptoms. It's also known as MS.
In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers, known as myelin. This interrupts communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Eventually, the disease can cause permanent damage of the nerve fibers.
Symptoms of MS depend on the person, the location of damage in the nervous system and how bad the damage is to the nerve fibers. Some people lose the ability to walk on their own or move at all. Others may have long periods between attacks without any new symptoms, called remission. The course of the disease varies depending on the type of MS.
There's no cure for multiple sclerosis. However, there are treatments to help speed the recovery from attacks, modify the course of the disease and manage symptoms.
The theme for MS Awareness Week 2026 is “MS Unseen,” which aims to share stories from the MS community to reveal the many ways MS shows up, both visible and invisible. This year’s campaign will focus on the invisible aspects of MS, such as fatigue, pain, cognitive changes, and depression, which can significantly impact daily life for those affected. The campaign is part of a broader movement to raise awareness about multiple sclerosis and its impact on individual society.
For 2026, we’ll be challenging MS assumptions and the harm they can cause. That’s where you come in. We want to hear from people living with MS about their experiences of assumptions and judgements to shape our campaign.
Raise Awareness
Tackling the complex challenges of multiple sclerosis calls for a comprehensive approach. It takes one-to-one MS Navigator support, advocacy for systemic change and resources and information to help people with MS feel more in control and less alone. Together, we are providing all of this and making progress toward cures for MS. But we can always do more to spread the word, to share research results, and to empower people affected by MS to live their best lives. Although you can make a difference every day, MS Awareness Week and World MS Day are great ways to get involved and tell MS it ends with us!
Source: Top-ranked Hospital in the Nation - Mayo Clinic <https://www.mayoclinic.org/>
Source: <https://www.nationalmssociety.org/>
Mayor and Council History
The Mayor and Council present this proclamation annually.
Public Notification and Engagement
World MS Day: May 30
World MS Day was initiated in 2009 by the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF) <https://www.msif.org/> and its global members, which include the National MS Society. It unites individuals and organizations from around the world to raise awareness and move us closer to a world free of MS. Together, we have reached hundreds of thousands of people around the world, with campaigns focusing on a different theme every few years. MSIF provides a toolkit of free resources to help everyone to take part in World MS Day. Anyone can use these tools or make their own. With them, you can shine a light on our efforts and create positive change in the lives of more than 2.8 million people around the world living with MS. Visit worldmsday.org <https://worldmsday.org/> to learn more and get involved.