MS Society of Canada launches virtual carnation-pinning campaign for World MS Day

Saturday will mark World MS Day, and this year, celebrations for the day are going to look much different from before.

According to Benjamin Davis, senior vice-president of mission for the MS Society of Canada, 11 people in the country are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) every day, and there are more than 7,000 people living with MS in Atlantic Canada.

MS is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world, with an estimated 77,000 cases.

Taelor Evans was just 16 when she was diagnosed with MS.

“I’ll have tingling in my feet and my hands,” she told Global News in 2018. “My vision still hasn’t fully recovered so I will still see black in one eye, if not both sometimes. I’ll be very exhausted and I just can’t think.”

And now, COVID-19 can pose additional challenges to those who are immunocompromised.

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Due to the pandemic, the MS Society is taking World MS Day virtual to recognize people living with, and affected by, MS. This year, the MS Society is asking Canadians to participate in a virtual carnation pinning on Saturday to raise awareness of the disease.

Davis says it’s a unique opportunity for Canadians.

“Normally we would do these carnation pinnings on elected officials in Ottawa and across all the provincial legislators; now we get to have the entire community embrace this as a campaign and do that as well,” he said.

On Saturday, the MS Society is asking Canadians to recognize World MS Day with their first-ever virtual carnation pinning on social media platforms.

“With COVID, it’s made us all turn on a dime,” Davis said. “We had to pivot very quickly to a virtual platform for people to stay connected and for us to continue to raise awareness and funds.”

READ MORE: MS Society launches virtual movement #WeChallengeMS to help fundraise during awareness month

The MS Society has created temporary social media profile pictures frames to use and participants can add #MakeMSMatter and tag @MSSocietyCanada to spread awareness of this campaign.

For more information on World MS Day, visit the MS Society website.