SMA Run 2024 is an event co-organized by National Institutes of Health (NIH), Persatuan Pegawai Penyelidik KKM, Kelab NIH and PUSPANITA NIH, collaboration with Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA) in conjunction with Shah Alam Car Free Day. Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a rare genetic disease that causes patients to have weakened muscles leading to difficulty in movement. More severe SMA patients experience breathing failure that can cause death if left untreated. Early diagnosis of SMA patients has been shown to reduce disease progression and death.
This program aims to create awareness among the public about rare diseases in general and SMA in particular. It gives the opportunity for the public to get to know and interact with this group of patients and their caretakers. Nevertheless, this program can become a medium to spread the role of NIH in health research for rare diseases to the community while also encouraging the community to adopt a healthy lifestyle through leisure activities. We aim to channel a sum of funds collected through this program to selected charities or patient associations to cater to their activities. We hope from such a program, more research opportunities and collaborations with patient groups can be carried out.