Fundraiser Thursday September 22

Rachael is playing at a fundraiser benefit gig next Thursday
for a friend who has MS and needs to buy a wheelchair.
Come along and help out if you can.

MS Australia on their website tells us that Multiple Sclerosis is a devastating disease, growing at the alarming rate of 8% pa. It’s affecting 3 times more women than men, with up to 1,000 new diagnoses each year in Australia, often starting with people in their 20’s.
That’s the human cost. The community cost in Australia is nearly $700 million pa.
However there is hope. MS research in Australia is poised to make important breakthroughs, that will directly counter this financial and human cost.
MS Research Australia has been established to resource these breakthroughs, and accelerate progress toward a cure for MS.
It is developing as a strategic research initiative, focusing our world-class strengths in neurobiology, immunology and epidemiology onto MS research, with a nationally, unified, collaborative research approach and best-practice governance.
View MSRA's executive director, Jeremy Wright discuss the foundations of MSRA, raising awareness, and the approach to realising MSRA's aims.'

You can view the video and read all about it on the link.
It also tels us about the cost to the community as Access Economics report—MS costs $2 billion a year in direct financial and other costs. The report confirms that the national financial cost of the disease is over $600 million every year. Nearly half (43 per cent) is the cost of informal care. Lost productivity contributes $160 million. The lost value of healthy lives adds a further $1.3 billion.