Old Bones
Senior Member
- Messages
- 808
Today, I received an email from Margaret Parlor, President, National ME/FM Action Network. It described the lack of government action taken to address the needs of the ME/FM community in Canada as communicated by Margaret during her meeting last year with Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities.
http://mefmaction.com/images/stories/News/MEFMDisabilityIssuesFollowup.pdf
Here's the text of Margaret's February 22, 2017 letter to Minister Qualtrough:
"RE: Follow-up from February 22, 2016 meeting
One year ago, we met to discuss disability issues facing Canadians with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Fibromyalgia (FM), or both. Statistics Canada's Canadian Community Health Survey 2014 found 800,000 Canadians with one or both diagnoses. The survey data showed that these Canadians had a high degree of disability, disadvantage, and unmet needs.
At that meeting, I identified five federal programs where people with ME/CFS and FM did not have full and fair access: CPP-Disability, the Disability Tax Credit, home care, workplace accommodations and voting in elections. We also talked generally about improving relationships between government and the ME/FM community.
In a follow-up letter to that meeting, I indicated that our organization would update you on progress every few months. I have postponed these updates until now, hoping for something positive to report. With the passage of a year, I have completed the update, inserting comments into the description and status report which was attached to that letter. There have been a few glimmers of hope, but there have been no tangible changes in the past year that address the accessibility issues experienced by the ME/FM community."
Here's a table from the above link:
http://mefmaction.com/images/stories/News/MEFMDisabilityIssuesFollowup.pdf
Here's the text of Margaret's February 22, 2017 letter to Minister Qualtrough:
"RE: Follow-up from February 22, 2016 meeting
One year ago, we met to discuss disability issues facing Canadians with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Fibromyalgia (FM), or both. Statistics Canada's Canadian Community Health Survey 2014 found 800,000 Canadians with one or both diagnoses. The survey data showed that these Canadians had a high degree of disability, disadvantage, and unmet needs.
At that meeting, I identified five federal programs where people with ME/CFS and FM did not have full and fair access: CPP-Disability, the Disability Tax Credit, home care, workplace accommodations and voting in elections. We also talked generally about improving relationships between government and the ME/FM community.
In a follow-up letter to that meeting, I indicated that our organization would update you on progress every few months. I have postponed these updates until now, hoping for something positive to report. With the passage of a year, I have completed the update, inserting comments into the description and status report which was attached to that letter. There have been a few glimmers of hope, but there have been no tangible changes in the past year that address the accessibility issues experienced by the ME/FM community."
Here's a table from the above link:
