There’s a new complex chronic disease clinic in Vancouver that will conduct research and support doctors and patients dealing with illnesses like ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) which is wonderful news. The clinic has a chance to win a $150,000 grant for medical equipment from the Aviva Community Fund. There’s also a current petition to encourage the federal government to fund more ME research.

This is where you come in!

How You Can Help

1. Vote between December 3 – 12/12

1. Register with Aviva: http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf13624 or log in using your Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/AvivaCCDC?skip_nax_wizard=true
2. Between Dec 3-12: Hit the “Vote Now” button and vote!
1. Vote for “Medical equipment for a new chronic diseases clinic in Vancouver”. The clinic serves people with ME, FM, MCS and Lyme disease. The clinic could win up to a $150,000 grant for medical equipment.

Each registrant gets 15 votes total, but can only vote for a particular cause once a day. So you could vote a maximum of 10 times for the clinic.

Note that Aviva will send you follow up emails, but you can unsubscribe at any time or proactively uncheck your settings here http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/users/registration/profile.

2. Sign the Petition

Please also sign the petition to Canada’s Health Minister to fund research for people with ME. From that site: “Canadian research funding for ME/CFS in the last 10 years equals to 6 cents per patient per year for this disease.”

To sign, go to:

http://www.change.org/petitions/minister-of-health-of-canada-fund-research-for-patients-with-myalgic-encephalomyelitis

More on Why Your Help is So Needed

• ME or Myalgic encephalomyelitis is recognized as a disabling nervous system disease, according to the World Health Organization classification of diseases. There is no cure, the cause of the illness is still unknown and there are no treatments–only symptom management.
• Some experts in the field of ME/CFS say that this disease is just as disabling as progressive multiple sclerosis, congestive heart failure or late stage AIDS.
• The 2010 Community Health Survey calculated that over 411,000 Canadians have the disease, 23% more than in 2005 and a staggering 205% more than in 2001.
• No medical specialty is embracing this disease, resulting in patients left to their own devices or with a general practitioner who does not have the knowledge or time to deal with patients with this complex disease.
• Patients are often stigmatized, largely because of the misleading and inadequate other name for the disease: chronic fatigue syndrome. Many people living busy lives can feel fatigued. People living with ME feel sick, fatigue being only one aspect of the illness.
• Interest in researching ME is increasing and much work has been done in the last decade or so, but funding for research remains inadequate and imbalanced compared to other chronic illnesses.