Peter Riley: MND becomes notifiable after tireless campaign
Following a long-term campaign by the late Peter Riley, the New South Wales government has officially classified Motor Neurone Disease (MND) as a notifiable disease. This change will allow health authorities to collect better data to identify potential environmental clusters and causes.
Why it matters
Mandatory reporting of rare or fatal diseases is a critical step in medical research and public health policy for identifying disease triggers.
Peter Riley and his wife Beth in 2022. File picture by Sylvia Liber When Peter Riley was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, he wanted to make it mandatory for doctors to report cases to health authorities, in the hope it would give scientists access to better data.
The report focuses on public health policy and a community-led advocacy success story.
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