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Norwegian political party mentions ME in manifesto

Kalliope

Senior Member
Messages
367
Location
Norway
The election campaign towards Sept. 2017 in Norway is getting started. Will ME become a big topic?

This year there is a brand new political party Helsepartiet (The Health Party).
They have a section on ME in their manifesto:

ME sufferers
ME stands for Myalgic encephalopathy and is a neuroimmunological disease with many symptoms. The disease is controversial and many patients report lack of knowledge, understanding and respect from the health care. Much suggests that ME diagnosis is incorrectly applied to patients suffering from various diseases that produce some of the same symptoms as ME. Treatment and recommendations vary greatly and are discussed intensely.

The Health Party wants:
- That research on ME's physiological markers continues and strengthens.
- That mapping of possible ME patients is improved so that cases due to other causes do not get the wrong diagnosis and measures.
- Provide relief and treatment for ME patients and focus on research that can explain the cause, context and mechanisms.
(google translation)


Not bad! Hopefully this will set a new tone in the political debate about ME.

The spokesman for health in the Labour Party, Torgeir Micaelsen, (who might end up as the new minister of health after the election) has criticised the Norwegian Research Council's project on involving ME-patients on how money for research should be spent on ME. More about the Research Council's ME-project in this thread.

Prof Wyller (with a biopsychosocial approach to ME) applied for a trial on Lightning Process and ME. It was turned down by the Research Council. This created a stirr led on by the LP-coach Live Landmark and Torgeir Micaelsen, where the Research Council was criticised for listening to patients (!). Patients and carers objected on Micaelsen's facebook page, and were promptly put back in their place by the politician who claimed he knew very well what he was doing and that in his political life he had never experienced anything so harsh as this criticism from ME-patients. (I've read the criticism, which was polite, constructive and factual).

There are however a few politicians who have expressed utter solidarity and care for ME-patients. The current prime minister, Erna Solberg, is one of them.

Let's see if ME will be moved further up on the agenda during the election! Fingers crossed!
 
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