Forgotten Plague, a documentary that a journalist at The Huffington Post called “a must-see documentary” is now available through ordering a DVD or streaming through Amazon Prime. Much of the documentary’s quest is to educate people on ME/CFS, especially those in the medical and health fields. Getting the film in front of those who need it has to be a grassroots movement: we must hold screenings all over the world.
To get started , the Forgotten Plague website has several tips to help make your screening a success. Most importantly, this is not something you want to take on yourself. This is an event where tasks are best divided among several people, each of whom can reach anywhere to 40-60 people.
First, understand that the Blue Ribbon Foundation, a small 501(c)3 non-profit, strives to make a big international impact in educating the medical community. To do this, they need funding in the form of licensing fees to cover the costs in providing the services to raise the profile of ME/CFS. The Blue Ribbon Foundation of course will assist with keeping licensing fees as low as possible, and will also consider donations in lieu of paying the screening fee, since the documentary is available on DVD, Amazon Prime, and iTunes.
Learn more about this information through Tugg HERE. Here’s a cool little infographic on how Tugg works, and detailed instructions on how to set up an account.
Once that’s all squared away, find a venue that holds at least 100 people, and preferably has a projector and screen already set up. Pick a “cool” venue. If your screening is at a place people see as “special” that will definitely help drive attendance up and make it an exciting event to go to. Find a speaker within the community who might be able to do a Q & A afterwards.
After this, promote, promote! List the event in the local paper, hang fliers, start a page through the website eventbrite.com. Ticket sales cover not only the cost of the screening, but raise money for a charity of your choice. All of this can be set up in your Tugg account through the Fundraising Features section of the registration form.
Find some more detailed tips for holding a screening HERE.
Contact the Blue Ribbon Foundation board members through the Forgotten Plague website or email the team at forgottenplague [at] gmail [dot] com for further information and help to make your screening a success!
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5 thoughts on “Hold a Forgotten Plague Screening!”
This is an excellent, and educational documentary. One of its informative, and important points is that it shows ME is not a gender specific disease. It also dispels the myth that we still know very little about this illness. It touches on the egregious errors made by governments in relegating this devastating disease to the medical waste bin. As Hillary Johnson says in the film, due to studies pointing to the biological basis of ME in the early 1990s, governments should have pursued ME as a physical disease decades ago. This documentary also breathes life into letters and emails we send to our politicians. They can see real people describing the impact of this disease. Our government decision makers can see some of the scientists who study ME, and therefore validate this terrible disease. They can see the impact that lack of research funding is having on the lives of those with ME. They can see the future holds promise for a biomarker, treatments, and a cure with new ways of thinking.
This documentary is having an impact. Politicians are taking note. Donating a copy or two to your local library also helps with grass roots awareness. “Forgotten Plague M.E. And the Future of Medicine”, gives us an opportunity to use another form of media we can use to reach those who make policy decisions about our lives. Thank you very much to Ryan Prior and Nicole Castillo for producing this film, and thank you to everyone who volunteers getting this documentary out there!
I have two copies that are lent out to family and friends. When I get them back I will donate them to my local library.
What a great idea, Barbe!
I plan to purchase this ASAP! Could it be a tool for Physicians? After 16 yrs of ME, and completely bedridden the last 6 years-every Doctor I have seen tells us that people with CFS don’t become this sick. These docs don’t even know of the term abbreviated ME. They have only given me the basic blood panels and a spinal tap to check for MS. All were negative and so I am told I need a Psychiatrist. I live in the Deep South, U.S. Very few docs. Almost no specialists.
#MEAction – A platform for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome activism | Katharine Spann commented on Hold a Forgotten Plague Screening!Hi Katherine,
Yes, “Forgotten Plague M.E. and the Future of Medicine” is an excellent educational tool for doctors. As you know, many doctors are not trained to diagnose and treat ME. Here is a link to ME specialist, Dr. Lily Chu’s article on what tests doctors might consider doing for ME, and the impact of this disease on those who suffer from it: http://iacfsme.org/portals/0/pdf/FDA-AugustFinalReportforUS-Version2.pdf
The Workwell Foundation is featured in the “Forgotten Plague” film. They have excellent info on their website including videos describing the metabolic dysfunction they have uncovered with their 2 day cardiopulmonary exercise tests that are shown on the “Forgotten Plague” documentary: http://www.workwellfoundation.org/research-and-latest-news/
And, finally, the 2015 physician guide for ME by Drs Bested and Marshall: “Review of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: an evidence-based approach to diagnosis and management by clinicians”: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/reveh.2015.30.issue-4/reveh-2015-0026/reveh-2015-0026.xml?format=INT, is unequivocal in stating ME is a physical disease. These authors comment on graded exercise therapy (GET) for ME on page 238: ” …ME/CFS is a physical illness with post-exertional malaise. As a result of including patients with depression in the Oxford studies [on CFS and exercise], the studies erroneously concluded that CFS patients improve with GET. Patients with ME/CFS have documented PEM [post-exertional malaise] on 2 day bicycle ergometry testing. Therefore GET is contraindicated and can be harmful for patients with ME/CFS using the CCC [Canadian Coonsensus Criteria: http://www.mefmaction.com/images/stories/Medical/ME-CFS-Consensus-Document.pdf%5D.
Bested and Marshall outline the findings of serious metabolic dysfunction for ME patients on pages 233 and 234, and the proven immune system abnormalities for ME patients, on pages 231 to 233 of their article. Their article is based on the Canadian Consensus Criteria.
For anyone who can afford to, I would really recommend donating a copy of “Forgotten Plague” to your local library. I know this film has been a popular addition to library collections, and politicians are taking note of it as well.
All the Best Katherine!
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