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 Lastest News Awareness Day Event At Queen’s Park – May 8th, 2012 (By Denise Magi) Because May 12th was on a week-end this year, MEAO held its awareness day event in the Legislature Building, at Queen's Park on May 8th. It was a great success! Thank you to all who came out! We thank the Honourable Kathleen Wynne, MPP for Don Valley West, for doing our introduction in Legislature, and we thank Joe Dickson, MPP for Ajax-Pickering, for being our sponsor and doing the Member's Statement for the awareness day event in the Legislature in the afternoon. At our reception, we were fortunate to have Dr. Alison Bested speak on the necessity and urgency to have medical treatment for those with ME/CFS, FM and MCS. Dr. Bested also read a statement from Dr. Lynn Marshall, who unfortunately was ill and could not attend. Hugh Scher, LLP, spoke on the necessity of protecting the rights of those with the illnesses. Jeanne Samonas also spoke and gave support. Arvinder Bindra, who is on the Steering Committee of MEAO's current Trillium Grant also spoke and gave an explanation of the purpose of the current grant, which is to do a feasibility study on the three illnesses, and what the study and the grant will ultimately achieve. From the MEAO board of directors, Keith Deviney (President) and Denise Magi (Vice-President) also spoke. Invitations were sent out to all Ontario MPP's to attend the reception and when the morning session of the Legislature ended, we were so pleased and happy that many of the MPP's came in to speak and support our cause. It was very encouraging that so many MPP's had knowledge of the illnesses and were eager to give their support. The tri-coloured ribbon representing ME/CFS, FM and MCS was made available to the MPP's and once again, we were very encouraged to see so many wearing their ribbon. Just some of the MPP's who came in to show their support were: We had a lovely luncheon before the reception ended. The speeches that were read in the Media Room at Queen's Park, mean that the MPP’s have access to them and that also gets the message across to the politicians and the Ministry of Health that … " … medical help is urgently needed now! …" for all those living with ME/CFS, FM and MCS. Thank you to all who made this day a great success! MEAO Receives Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant For Important Study In November 2011, the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) awarded a year-long, $92,500 grant to the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Association of Ontario (MEAO) to conduct a study examining health delivery in Ontario for people with ME, FM and MCS. Specifically, the project will seek to improve the quality of life for people with these illnesses by developing and testing a new model of community care that engages providers of health and social support systems. The project will be one year in duration, and will involve the input of expert third party consultants. The MEAO will be responsible of oversight of the project, and members of the community will be invited to participate through surveys and other information gathering techniques. Organizations such as the Environmental Health Association of Ontario, the ME-FM Action Network, and the Environmental Health Clinic at Women's College Hospital will support the project through advisory roles. Data from 2010 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) shows that the number of Ontarians reporting a diagnosis of ME, FM and/or MCS was approximately 568,000 up 29% from 2005. There is no systematic approach to care for this community, and this large and growing population in Ontario remains critically underserved. This study will take the first step towards documenting practical solutions regarding a comprehensive and effective system of care. The research and medical world have only recently begun to appreciate the severity, the physiological realities and the prevalence of ME, FM and MCS. This study will be an important and timely step for illuminating the best approaches for health care delivery in Ontario for the thousands of patients in Ontario who suffer with one or all of these illnesses. On December 16th, the Hon. Kathleen Wynne, MPP for Don Valley West and Patricia Else, the Director of Grant Operations at OTF, were at our office to formally congratulate everyone on receiving the grant and to hear more about the work that will be involved with it. The Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Association of Ontario thanks Ms. Wynne, who has continually supported our efforts. The MEAO would also like to express our great appreciation to the OTF for their support. The Ontario Trillium Foundation
From left to right Honorable Kathleen Wynne, MPP Don Valley West; Patricia Else, Director of Grant Operations,  MEAO Annual General Meeting Great Bonus For You See Audio Link Below This year's Annual General Meeting was held on Saturday, October 1st, 2011, in the Auditorium of Women's College Hospital. After the business portion of the meeting, there was a presentation by Dr. Byron Hyde. MEAO was very fortunate to Dr. Hyde come to talk to the membership at our AGM. Dr. Hyde is an international medical expert on ME/CFS. He founded the Nightingale Research Foundation, in Ottawa, in 1988, and the NRF is known internationally for its dedication to research and rigorous medical investigation of M.E. and CFS disabled patients. His talk was based upon the contents of the Nightingale Research Foundation booklet "Definition of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.)". This booklet goes into great detail with definitions, causes, symptoms and testing procedures of M.E. Dr. Hyde's talk was very enlightening and after his talk, he had a Q & A session answering many questions for the audience. We thank Dr. Hyde for being very generous with his time and for such an informative talk. Here is a great bonus for you! Click on the audio link and you will have the full audio presentation of Dr. Hyde's talk: Audio file ~ Annual General Meeting Audio file ~ Q & A at the Annual General Meeting |
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