10-16 June 2024
Home About Carers Week Our supporters and sponsors The ME Association

We support, inform, campaign and invest in medical research to help people with ME/CFS and Long Covid and those who care for them.

Established in 1980, we are the leading experts in ‘post-infectious syndromes’ and are focused on improving healthcare for the 1million or more people that are affected.

The ME Association:

  • provides essential and personalised support.
  • produces the largest range of expert information.
  • campaigns to raise awareness and understanding.
  • is working with NICE, DHSC, NHS and social care providers to improve healthcare.
  • produces ME Essential magazine and ME Medical magazine.
  • is the leading provider of social media information and discussions.
  • has an excellent track record of investing in medical research.

ME/CFS and Long Covid:

  • are life-changing and complex medical conditions that do not allow adults or children to function normally.
  • can prevent or restrict the ability to work or go to school, can leave people unable to care for themselves, confined to their beds, and with a very poor quality of life.
  • share many symptoms in common but also some differences.
  • do not have any effective treatments at this time but can be managed with help from health and social care specialists and an approach known as Pacing.
  • can stabilise over time and functional limitations can improve, but each condition affects people differently and they can respond in different ways to even the best management approaches and interventions.

We have been providing expert help since 1980. We understand the challenges faced by people with these conditions and the carers who look after them. We believe that nobody should struggle alone and are determined to change attitudes and improve lives.

We have established an excellent reputation over the last 44 years and consistently deliver high standards of support, provide reliable and timely information, encourage medical training, undertake effective lobbying, and we make prudent research investments.

Health Crisis

  • We estimate that more than 1.25 million people in the UK live with ME/CFS and Long Covid, but many remain undiagnosed.
  • We don’t know how many are reliant on care but around 25% are severely or very severely affected at any one time and will be in need of unpaid or professional help.
  • Between 5-10% of people who catch an infection can develop a syndrome like ME/CFS or Long Covid from which they are often unable to fully recover.
  • The most common trigger for ME/CFS is a viral infection like Glandular Fever (the Epstein-Barr Virus).
  • The trigger for Long Covid is an infection by the Covid-19 virus.
  • There remains a lot that medical science doesn’t know about these conditions, but 50% of people with Long Covid are believed to meet the diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS.

More information

If you need to speak with someone who understands, then please contact ME Connect – the support and information service.

If you need free expert information, then please review the range of literature and Medical Matters on the website.

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