{"id":41154,"date":"2023-10-18T04:35:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T03:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/?p=41154"},"modified":"2023-10-18T04:36:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T03:36:12","slug":"wmea-calls-on-un-to-address-post-viral-illnesses-in-future-pandemic-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wmea-calls-on-un-to-address-post-viral-illnesses-in-future-pandemic-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"WMEA calls on UN to address post-viral illnesses in future pandemic planning"},"content":{"rendered":"

32 organisations call for future pandemic preparedness to address infection-associated chronic conditions\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

The World ME Alliance<\/a> says future pandemic preparedness will fail millions without explicit recognition of and research into infection associate chronic conditions.<\/p>\n

On 20th September 2023, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a\u00a0Political Declaration<\/a>\u00a0on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response.<\/p>\n

\"\"The commitments outlined in this declaration are vital for enhancing global readiness to tackle future pandemics effectively, yet they fail to address infection-associated chronic conditions.<\/p>\n

Globally, more than 65 million people are now living with long COVID, of whom 50% meet the criteria for a diagnosis of ME\/CFS and over 70% have developed dysautonomia. The need for recognition and expedited research to address these chronic illnesses is undeniable.<\/p>\n

Facilitated by the World ME Alliance, 32 organizations, including WAMES<\/strong>, have joined in calling on His Excellency Mr Dennis Francis<\/a>, President of the 78th UN General Assembly, to raise awareness of this critical issue within the UN and among member states, and meet with us to discuss working toward a healthier and more resilient world for all.<\/p>\n

Extract from letter:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

… historical records show that after previous pandemics and epidemics, from the Greek plague of 430 BC to the Spanish Flu of 1918 to the 2014 Ebola virus disease outbreak, there have been accounts of individuals who never fully recover, living with chronic illnesses that often mirror the symptoms of ME and dysautonomia. This pattern underscores the importance of recognizing infection-associated chronic illnesses as a recurring issue following pandemics, with long-lasting implications for affected individuals and society as a whole.<\/p>\n

Therefore, we respectfully urge the United Nations and its member states to consider addressing this significant gap in pandemic preparedness and response. We call for future initiatives and strategies related to pandemic preparedness to explicitly include actions on the impact of infection-associated chronic illnesses, such as long COVID<\/a>, ME<\/a>, POTS and other forms of dysautonomia<\/a> and more.<\/p>\n

Vitally, these efforts should encompass\u00a0research and recognition, with immediate recommendations to invest in research to understand the underlying mechanisms of these conditions, facilitate early diagnosis, and improve recognition, medical education and treatment.<\/p>\n

We kindly request your support in raising awareness of this matter within the United Nations and among member states. We, the undersigned, are committed to providing aid and being a resource for the UN and member states in this endeavour. Together, we can work towards a more inclusive and responsive approach to pandemic preparedness that considers the long-term health and well-being of all individuals affected by infectious diseases.<\/p>\n

32 organisations signed:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

World ME Alliance \u2013 Global
\nLong Covid Alliance \u2013 Global
\nDysautonomia International \u2013 Global
\n#MEAction \u2013 Global
\n12ME \u2013 Belgium
\nACAF \u2013 Spain
\nAction for M.E. \u2013 UK
\nAMMES \u2013 The American ME and CFS Society
\nANZMES \u2013 The Associated New Zealand Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Society
\nAssociazione Italiana Long COVID \u2013 Italy
\nAQEM \u2013 Association qu\u00e9b\u00e9coise de l\u2019enc\u00e9phalomy\u00e9lite myalgique \u2013 Canada
\nCFS\/ME Associazione Italiana \u2013 Italy
\nCFS\/ME Organizzazione di Volontariato \u2013 Italy
\nEuropean ME Coalition
\nEmerge Australia
\nForward ME \u2013 UK
\nHope 4 ME and Fibro Northern Ireland
\nJapan ME Association
\nME CVS Nederland
\nME Support (IOM) \u2013 Isle of Man
\nME\/CFS Israel
\nMillions Missing Belgique
\nMillions Missing Canada
\nMillions Missing France
\nMillions Missing Mexico
\nMirame Arts \u2013 Germany
\nMYOS \u2013 Portugal
\nNe\u00fanavn\u00ed \u2013 Czechia
\nPlataforma Familiars FM-SFC-SQM S\u00edndromes de Sensibilitzaci\u00f3 Central \u2013 Spain
\nSolve M.E. \u2013 US
\nThe ME CFS Foundation South Africa
\nWAMES \u2013 Welsh Association of ME & CFS Support<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read the complete article and letter<\/a><\/p>\n

Download letter<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

32 organisations call for future pandemic preparedness to address infection-associated chronic conditions\u00a0   The World ME Alliance says future pandemic preparedness will fail millions without explicit recognition of and research into infection associate chronic conditions. On 20th September 2023, the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5qkYK-aHM","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41154"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41161,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41154\/revisions\/41161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}