ME sufferers should be included in Social Policy AD
Alternattiva Demokratika expressed support for ME Sufferers Malta, a support group for patients suffering from various degrees of ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) and disability.
May is ME Awareness month. Similar to MS, ME is also a disabling neurological condition (as defined by the World Health Organisation) with a variety of symptoms that include dizziness, pain, cognitive problems, and overwhelming fatigue. Researchers believe that ME may be caused either by an enterovirus (like polio), or by a newly discovered retrovirus, XMRV, which is also implicated in prostate cancer.
Michael Briguglio, AD Chairperson, said many sufferers of ME are housebound and often bed-bound most of the time; due to the fluctuating nature of their illness they are not always able to do the awareness work they wish sometimes they just have to stay in bed.
He appealed for changes in Maltas social policy legislation through which such persons may be socially included for equal rights as others with disabilities and chronic illness. AD also endorses the appeal of ME Sufferers Malta so that blood transfusions from ME sufferers are prohibited due to possible transmission of ME.
