Journal of IiMER Volume 10 Issue 1 The European ME Alliance (EMEA) is now composed of thirteen countries in Europe – working together to create change. RISK OF SUICIDE DUE TO NEGLECT AMONGST PEOPLE LIVING WITH MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYEILITIS/CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME IN SPAIN: FIRST SPANISH STUDY LigaSFC May 12, 2016 “We will not be a just, advanced nor democratic country as long as there are people who have Myalgic Encephalomyelitis who continue being ignored and INVISIBLE” - Juan Jimenez-Ortiz Another International Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Day is here. But do people with ME/CFS in Spain Have we anything to celebrate? No, it does not seem so. That is why the Spanish association of PWME (people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis), LigaSFC, is launching this very important study by Juan Jimenez-Ortiz on the effects of neglect, mistreatment and lack of proper medical and social care which people with ME/CFS in Spain live with. For several decades, PWME in Spain, their associations and their lawyers, have been denouncing that this very serious neuroimmune illness, which affects one in 200 people, live with a great number of social and political factors which, added to their illness, severely reduce their quality of life and put them at risk of suicide (see the numerous articles by the Collectiu Ronda Lawyer’s Cooperative in Barcelona). These factors include, mainly, a lack of access to relevant medical care and a precarious economic situation due the lack of pensions and other help which people too sick to work are entitled to in Spain. Also the lack of proper care of this illness by the health administrations results in a general lack of social support for PWME. PWME in Spain have spent decades saying that all they want is what other people who are ill with other pathologies have. But they don’t seem to be listened to. Socially aware and concerned Spanish psychologist, Juan Jimenez-Ortiz, has carried out a research study (for his PhD thesis by the University of Valladolid) with the title: “Depression, hopelessness Invest in ME (Charity Nr. 1114035) www.investinme.org Page 30 of 77 June 2016
31 Publizr Home