To mark World Health Day, and with just over one month to go until World ME Day, we are launching our next resource! Are you interested in helping to raise awareness for myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), a chronic and disabling disease that affects millions of people worldwide? If so, you’re invited to participate in the World ME Day 2023 global awareness campaign.
This year we are using the tagline “ME: the disease where pushing harder can make you sicker”. For those who do not have ME, it may be difficult to understand how something as simple as chatting with a friend or making a drink can lead to a “crash” that lasts for days, weeks, or even permanently. But for people with ME, post-exertional malaise is a reality that severely limits their daily activities and quality of life.
And it is now estimated that roughly half of those with long COVID are experiencing PEM, which means that millions more people are living with this debilitating symptom.
To help you get involved this World ME Day, we’ve created a template press release that you can customize and send to your local news outlets, as well as a step-by-step guide on how to send a press release. Our goal is to help you share your story and raise awareness about the hallmark symptom of ME: post-exertional malaise (PEM).
PEM is a worsening of symptoms after physical, mental, or emotional exertion that would not have caused a problem before the illness. For some patients, sensory overload (light and sound) can induce PEM. These episodes are sometimes referred to as “crashes,” and may last days, weeks, or permanently. Unfortunately, there is no diagnostic test, cure, nor universally effective treatments for ME, and patients often suffer for life.
World ME Day is an opportunity to raise awareness about the harmful effect of pushing harder. We want this to be the first thing that comes to mind when someone hears about ME. By sharing your story and spreading the word about the challenges of living with ME, we can work together to make a difference.
To get involved, simply customize the template press release we’ve provided and send it to your local news outlets. Use our step-by-step guide on how to send a press release to local new outlets to help you along the way.
Additionally, people with ME from around the world are encouraged to share their PEM stories on social media and with local press, and to get involved with their national ME organizations.
We hope you’ll join us in this important effort to raise awareness about ME and its impact on millions of people worldwide. Together, we can make a difference and help to improve the lives of those living with this debilitating disease.
To learn more about ME or take a #LearnFromME action to support the cause, please visit www.worldmeday.org.
