More recently, governments in England and Scotland have published groundbreaking reports into M.E. It is now taken as fact that M.E. is a real and serious illness that can have a devastating impact on people. This year it was announced that money is being invested into improving NHS services for M.E. and into developing a national strategy for research. These are successes in which Action for M.E. has played a key part.
In reality though the needs of people with M.E. are still enormous. Much remains to be done.
For some young people the care and attention they receive is excellent and they are able to successfully manage their M.E. and over time make a recovery.
Other young people have very different experiences and they struggle to access appropriate medical care or are told that nothing can be done. Diagnosis continues to be slow and some young people suffer the consequences for years after.
For young people who are severely affected often the medical support is not there. Whilst research into the illness is beginning to take shape it may be many years before we hear of the findings.
Because of these reasons, it's really important that we continue to build on the successes of recent campaigns to try and put an end to M.E. being a misunderstood, ignored and neglected illness.
How do we campaign?
We challenge many different organisations e.g. health services, benefit agencies and other government departments to change their approach to M.E. We want their policies to take M.E. seriously, rather than just recognising the illness. This means making plans and decisions that take into account the needs of people with M.E.
Campaigning does not always mean shouting in the street and holding a banner (although sometimes this works well). Much of the Action for M.E. work goes on quietly behind the scenes: presenting our case to policy makers and leaders and persuading them of the need for change.
