Mackay joins Renfrewshire Provost in Supporting MND Awareness Week

Renfrewshire North & West MSP Derek Mackay has joined Renfrewshire Provost, Cllr Lorraine Cameron, in supporting MND Awareness Week in the Scottish Parliament.

18^th– 24^th June marked Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Awareness Week, a week dedicated to raising awareness of the condition and its impact on families in Scotland.

MND is a rapidly progressing terminal illness, which stops signals from the brain reaching the muscles. This may cause someone to lose the ability to walk, talk, eat, drink or breathe unaided. There is currently no cure or effective treatment. Almost 200 people are diagnosed each year in Scotland, 53% will die within one year of diagnosis and 6.5% live more than 5 years. There are over 450 people in Scotland currently living with MND.

Since 2015, the Scottish Government has invested £2.5 million in a specialist nursing and care fund each year, more than doubling the number of MND specialist nurses across the country.

SNP MSP Derek Mackay said:

“I am happy to show my support to the campaign to help raise awareness of this condition in Scotland.

“I was also delighted to welcome the Provost to Parliament for the event.

“Since 2015 the Scottish Government have invested £2.5 million in a specialist care fund each year, helping to double the number of specialist nurses across Scotland.

“We are working to ensure that people living with MND have access to the best possible care, support and research”