MS ambassador reaches final of international health awards

A patient advocate from Marlow, Buckinghamshire has made it to the finals of the international 9th Annual WEGO Health Awards for patient leaders. Trishna Bharadia has been shortlisted in the final six of two categories, Healthcare Collaborator and Lifetime Achievement, for her work to help others with chronic illness and improve the delivery of healthcare.

Trishna, a translator for a business intelligence company, began her patient advocacy work after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2008, aged 28. She also lives with chronic urticaria/angioedema, irritable bowel syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety.

Her work as a health advocate includes speaking at events and conferences, writing, consultancy, media outreach and information/services development, among many other things. She works with multiple stakeholders, including health charities and patient groups, the healthcare industry (such as pharmaceutical companies), the NHS, industry associations, clinicians, and individuals living with chronic illness. She works locally, nationally and internationally, and among previous accolades was recognised by the Prime Minister’s Office in 2018 with a Points of Light Award. In 2015, her advocacy work led her to being chosen to take part in a special edition of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1, which told her story with MS to millions of TV viewers.

Among her charitable roles, Trishna is an ambassador for MS Society UK, ADD International and Lyfebulb. She’s a Patron for Chilterns MS Centre, Cambs Therapy Centre and ParaDance UK. She’s also a long-standing committee member for Asian MS (a support group that is part of MS Society UK) and sits on both the MS Society’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Reference Group and its Technology Forum.

Winners will be announced during a virtual ceremony, in partnership with HLTH, on 15t October at 7pm ET via a Facebook Premiere event on the WEGO Health Facebook page.