Tag Archives: shana pezaro

The Voice

A familiar face behind a medical breakthrough

By The Voice | Sun 1st November 2015 - 2:45 pm

Did you see the BBC report the other day about how antiretrovirals normally used to treat HIV had enabled a woman with Multiple Sclerosis to walk. The drugs had a dramatic effect:

Shana Pezaro, 36, from Hove, East Sussex, was given antiretroviral drugs after fearing she may have contracted HIV.

Within days, Miss Pezaro noticed an easing of her MS symptoms.

When a doctor saw her walking up stairs after years of using a wheelchair he set up a clinical trial.

Multiple sclerosis is an incurable condition that can lead to sight loss, pain, fatigue and disability. It affects around 100,000 people in the UK.

Miss Pezaro was a dancer and piano teacher before being diagnosed with MS at the age of 28. The condition affected her hands and feet and she used a wheelchair.

If you thought you recognised Shana, you’d have been right. She has made some fantastic speeches at Liberal Democrat Conferences outlining the practical effects of the welfare reforms enacted by the Coalition on people.

She made a video blog from the Birmingham Conference in 2011 which you can see here:

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 3 Comments
Jenny Willott

Jenny Willott MP writes: Harrington – better assessments, better outcomes

By Jenny Willott | Thu 24th November 2011 - 3:24 pm

At our Conference in September, the Liberal Democrats unanimously supported a motion calling for changes to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) which accompanies it.

Speaker after speaker stood up to condemn the system left by Labour which subjected sick and disabled people to an ineffective, demeaning assessment process that was not fit for purpose. Many will remember the powerful speech by Shana Pezaro who condemned the WCA process as ‘utterly failing many people’.

The motion welcomed the first annual review of the WCA by Professor Malcolm Harrington, and the progress the Coalition Government has already …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 13 Comments
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