Foreword:
For the past 20 years there has been extensive argument in the UK about the causes and diagnostic criteria for this illness. For some considerable time, the conventional wisdom was that this illness was purely psychological in origin.
The World Health Organisation has clearly classified CFS/ME as a neurological disease in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD), section G93.3.
Despite this clarity, there is still a lack of universal agreement about CFS/ ME in the UK. This has led to a paralysis of research into both the biomedical causes of and treatments for CFS/ME, and the research that has been done has focused primarily on the psychological side.
The time has come for a proper research strategy for CFS/ME, looking at both bio-medical causes and treatments. In order to commence a dialogue with government and other interested parties, it is essential for everyone to be on the same page. To achieve that degree of agreement will be a challenge, but I believe the first step in that process is to start a new public conversation about this horrible illness.
The purpose of this report by the health think tank 2020health, sponsored by the Optimum Health Clinic, is to do just that. Nothing concentrates the mind like money. This is the first cost of illness study of CFS/ME to the UK economy combining direct costs (including primary and secondary care contacts, prescription and over the counter
medications, and complimentary treatments) and indirect costs (including work productivity losses, informal care and welfare payments). The results are staggering.
In commissioning this report, our hope is that we can:
* Demonstrate clearly all the costs of CFS/ME to the UK economy;
* Use this report to start a new public conversation about the illness;
* Start a dialogue with all interested parties to create a new strategy to research the bio-medical causes of and treatments for CFS/ME
You can read the full report HERE.