Last week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS zeroed out the $5.4 million line item for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome at the CDC….again. Tell your members of congress to restore the funding for ME/CFS for next year’s budget. We cannot abandon the progress we’ve made so far!
UPDATE: A recording of this community call can be found here. Join us for our next activist teach-in with Jennifer Johnson Avril* on Sunday, August 13th at 1:00pm E.T. The call will run for 90 minutes. Our storytelling is a powerful component of activism, whether we’re making a video, writing a press release or creating
When you go to the doctor, you expect treatment to help, not harm you. But the NICE (NHS) guidelines for ME/CFS only recommend two main therapies for ME: Graded Exercise Therapy (GET – which asks you to gradually increase your exercise each week, ignoring any worsening symptoms) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). The majority of
The NHS’ NICE guidelines are badly out of date, and only offer two main treatments: Graded Exercise Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. We’ve just heard that NICE, despite being due for a revision this year, are intending not to revise the guidelines after all. This is worrying for all patients who have been harmed
The ME community can greatly benefit by adopting a local philosophy to activism.
On Friday, May 26th, New York State (NYS) Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker emailed a letter regarding Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) to eighty-five thousand physicians in NYS. In the letter he describes the illness, encourages physicians to consider ME as part of a differential diagnosis when evaluating patients with symptoms, and refers readers to Jen Brea’s
Back in February 2017, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) publicly announced at a packed town hall meeting that he would advocate for ME. A few short months later, he did just that! His first act as an ME advocate was to sponsor a Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill on May 18th. The briefing — which included
Timbre Livesay and Mary Dimmock contributed to this article. This is an outline of the steps a California ME advocate, Mark Camenzind, took for getting city proclamations for ME. Below the steps is a template you can use for your own city proclamation. Feel free to adapt either for your city’s needs. As this is
Rivka Solomon and Mary Dimmock contributed to this article This document includes the steps ME advocates are taking to get a State Resolution for ME passed in their State House (aka State Assembly or State Legislature). It also includes a draft template of a resolution for you to use in your state. Why pursue a state
When you see a media representation of someone suffering with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (also called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), do you feel that you are being represented? Do you see your face when you see photos of people with ME or CFS in the media? “Who can become ill with ME/CFS? Most of us can answer that
