Today’s episode spotlights older people living with MS and the important issues they face, as we mark International Day of Older Persons 2025 which is celebrated annually on the first of October.

We hear from MS Australia Lived Experience Expert Panel (LEEP) members, Vanessa Fanning and Gavin Harper, who represent the important cohort of older people living with multiple sclerosis.

International Day of Older Persons is dedicated to acknowledging the contributions of older people and addressing issues that affect their lives. This year’s theme is Older Persons Driving Local and Global Action: Our Aspirations, Our Well-Being, Our Rights.

MS is the most common acquired chronic neurological disease affecting young adults, often diagnosed between the ages of 20 to 40 and affects both women and men. While no two people experience MS in the same way, everyone ages, so we wanted to talk about what it’s like to be an older person living with MS.

Our guests discuss their diagnoses and lived experience with MS, navigating the aged care and NDIS systems, the important issues facing older people with MS, and their passion for advocacy.

Today’s guests:

• Vanessa Fanning lives with Progressive MS, is in her 70s and was diagnosed with MS in 1999.  Vanessa received a My Aged Care package which she surrendered after 12 months after it failed to meet her needs. Vanessa is deeply involved in research focusing on MS and engaged with the local MS Community in the ACT. Through her national and international roles, Vanessa has developed a wide and diverse network of people living with and affected by all forms of MS providing insight into the priorities and concerns of a range of people affected by MS.
  
• Gavin Harper has had MS since 1973. Over the past 50+ years he has experienced a wide range of symptoms which he thinks are quite typical of Relapsing Remitting MS (RRMS). Gavin has extensive project management, Board, committee, and governance skills plus 50+ years of lived experience with MS, while living in four different countries. Gavin is co-chair of MS Australia MS Member Organisation, MSWA’s client co-design committee.