Debilitating illness still not always recognised

Despite ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome affecting around 20,000 New Zealanders, many people are unaware the conditions exist, says Maryan Street, Labour's Health Spokesperson.

"May 12 is ME/CFS Awareness Day and has been chosen because it is the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. She contracted a ME/CFS-like illness in her mid-thirties and spent her remaining years virtually bed-ridden.

"ME/CFS is a real disease. It is recognised by the World Health Organisation as a neurological illness and is characterised by incapacitating fatigue and problems with concentration and short-term memory," she said.

"It is often hard for people with ME or CFS to persuade employers that they are genuinely ill and not lazy or malingering. It is difficult to explain that you feel tired when everyone feels tired at some point in the day.

“These people are often met with scepticism or disbelief and it only through more people becoming aware of the nature of this illness that it can be dealt with appropriately and constructively for the people who suffer from it.

"Information creates awareness and awareness creates understanding," said Maryan Street.