ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Canada's provincial health ministers pledged Monday to work together to explore ways to speed up the study of a controversial treatment for multiple sclerosis.

The agreement came as the ministers gathered in St. John's for two days of meetings on everything from sodium reduction to a national pharmacare program.

"I think it's safe to say we agonize over many issues that we want to address and certainly MS is one of those issues," Maureen MacDonald, Nova Scotia's health minister, said to reporters.

"We have agreed as ministers that we want to act as quickly and as ethically as possible for MS patients."

MacDonald said the goal of the ministers is to move toward clinical trials of so-called liberation therapy "when and if the evidence is available."

The treatment is based on a theory that narrowed neck veins cause blood-borne iron deposits to build up and damage brain cells, and that unblocking the veins will help MS sufferers.

The theory was first put forward by Italian doctor Paolo Zamboni.

MacDonald said the ministers' agreement to create a working group doesn't preclude provinces from initiating their own research projects.

She said the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada is already sponsoring projects in British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Earlier in the day, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced plans to fund an observational study of multiple sclerosis patients who have chosen to undergo the procedure.