FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: Monday, October 4, 2016
CONTACT:
MillionsMissingCanada@gmail.com
Scott Simpson 647-447-1818
10/04: Live Sick-In Protest to Support Patients Suffering from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
MILLIONS MISSING CANADA PLANS “SICK-IN” PROTEST AT HEALTH CANADA BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN TORONTO AS CALL TO ACTION FOR HEALTH MINISTER JANE PHILPOTT
Canada (October 4, 2016) – “We are too sick to march around and hold up protest signs, but we can bring our sickness to the streets for all to see,” says patient Scott Simpson, who is disabled by the neurological illness Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). Patients, carers and their supporters will hold a “sick-in” demonstration to protest for Health Minister Jane Philpott to address the ME crisis with a national strategy.
The sick-in protest is led by members and supporters of the #MillionsMissing Canada advocacy movement and will be demonstrating this Thursday, October 6th at 180 Queen St. West in Toronto from noon to 2 p.m. Simpson says live streaming on Facebook will allow ME patients too sick to attend the live protest, to participate via the internet. Patients and volunteers have created a brief video to promote the “Sick-in” protest:
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Simpson, who has suffered from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) for the past four years, has been one of the driving forces behind #MillionsMissing Canada’s movement of patients who are outraged over the continued lack of research funding and the promotion of inappropriate medical treatment. “400,000 Canadian ME patients are both excluded and harmed by the current health care system”, says Simpson who is advocating for public awareness and government intervention of the ME crisis.
Health Minister Jane Philpott has not acknowledged the virtual protests by ME patients, families and supporters in May, nor responded to the more than 7,000 emails they sent to her and other MPs during the September 27 virtual campaign. Simpson says that ME patients are now forced to take their “sickness to the streets”.
The goal is to secure a face-to-face meeting with Federal Minister of Health Dr. Jane Philpott to discuss a national strategy to address the dire state of research funding and health care for ME patients.
“How Health Minister Philpott can ignore the ME crisis is beyond baffling. With this sick-in protest, we are bringing public attention to the neglect and harm perpetuated by the health care system on ME patients. We are asking Minister Philpott to please help us. She is the only one who can stop the harm,” says Simpson.
ME symptoms are multi-system and often disabling, and include: unrelenting exhaustion, sensory overload, cognitive impairments, and muscle and joint pain. The World Health Organization classifies ME as a neurological illness. The cardinal symptom is post exertion neuroimmune exhaustion, meaning patients experience flu-like and neurological symptoms after minimal effort.
About 25% of ME patients are house or bed bound. There are no Health Canada-approved drugs to manage the disease and sufferers have a lower quality of life than patients with other chronic illnesses.
For more information on #MillionsMissing Canada’s “Sick-in” or to participate, visit
https://www.facebook.com/events.
About #MillionsMissing:
#MillionsMissing is a global protest for ME rights. The #MillionsMissing are 20 million people worldwide missing from their lives because of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E), a debilitating and disabling neurological disease.
About #MillionsMissing Canada:
MillionsMissingCanada.ca is a grassroots movement fighting for a national strategy for ME including research funding and health care access for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis patients.
Note: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is erroneously used by some interchangeably with the controversial term ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’ (CFS), a term not readily accepted within the ME community due to the misleading phrase and historically dismissive connotation.