- "Nothing less than fantastic", said Ellen Piro President of ME-forening.

People with ME will get better help and services from the Health Service. Thus promises health minister Sylvia Brustad in a private member's parliamentary debate yesterday evening.

- "We have fought for this for 20 years. We are really happy that finally the problems are being tackled, but we don't yet dare to be too happy at this progress".

- "I won't believe it before I see it and until we know how people with ME experience this", said Ellen.

Campaigns

Laila Dåvøy (of the Christian People's Party - KrF), who took the initiative for the private member's bill, describes how she has received an enormous amount of approaches from people with ME. This has made a strong impression on her. She congratulates the health minister for the answers which she gave.

- "It was really positive. She was clear that we must now start to listen to patients and set up initiatives for treatment of the illness", say Dåvøy.

Ellen Piro said that she recognises many of the Norwegian M.E. Association's demands which are now being addressed in these promises. Especially she emphasises the promises for respect for the illness, for increasing the health service's knowledge, for user involvement, for a national competency network and for use of foreign research.

Better Treatment

In an fresh report the Social and Health Directorate suggests that the Department of Health create a national competency network for ME. Additionally, the Directorate recommends that municipalities and health services must search for a satisfactory arrangement for patients and relatives.

– "The intention would be that those with ME are received in a proper, good-natured way by the health services and also a receive a proper follow-up and management process", says Cecilie Daae department director from the Social and Health Directorate.

She recommends that patients with ME should be better treated by the health services than many consider they have been up til now.

– "We have discovered that ME patients are not being listened to, and the initiatives we suggest shall counteract this , she says.

Responsibility

The Health minister, Sylvia Brustad, wants better patient treatment and writes in the press release that the recommended competency networks shall be set up with centres in Oslo and Bergen. These centres will perform research and advise health personnel across entire country.

In the medical profession there are different views about the illness, management methods and causes of the illness.

– "We must strengthen research and at the same time determine examples of what works and what doesn't. ME isn't one illness, but many. Therefore each patient must be treated individually", say Daae.