two templates for use in government ME lobbying

[Linda J. MacDonald]

Hello MECFS centre folks,

 

I don’t know how to share attachments and I can see that my Alberta Action didn’t show any attachments so I am embedding two here, which can be used in any country if you just change the contacts and specs.

 

These were for my province, Alberta, in Canada. They were aimed at the provincial departments that manage health, health billing, disability and human services so I included ME/CFS, FMS, MCS and chronic Lyme which in Canada tend to get treated (or ignored) under the same umbrellas. If these were research advocacy templates, they would be illness-specific.

 

Hope this helps someone out who is too sick to compose lobby letters but wants to be heard.  Have other templates with more detail, specific to ministries such as Health, Human Services, and Finance – if you would like these or know how I can post them as documents for others, please contact me.

 

Best wishes,

Linda MacDonald

 

 

Template 1

Response to Alberta government ministerial requests for public input

 

September 2012

Health Minister Fred Horne: edmonton....@assembly.ab.ca   

Human Services Minister Dave Hancock: edmonton...@assembly.ab.ca

 

Ministers of Human Services and Health:

 

 

I am writing to ask the government to fund and build capacity for specialized clinics, services, disability access and help for my loved one with ME/CFS myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivities and chronic Lyme.

 

Please refer to submissions by (name a key advocate or group) on this topic for discussion of unmet needs which are the worst of any chronic illnesses in Canada.

 

Please engage all stakeholders.

Thank you very much.

 

Signed

 

 

Town: _________________________________________

 

Cc: MLA ______________________________

Finance Minister: Doug Horner: sprucegrov...@assembly.ab.ca 

________________________________________________________________________________

Template 2

Response to ministerial requests for public input – template for patient use

September 2012

Health Minister Fred Horne:

edmonton....@assembly.ab.ca 

Human Services Minister Dave Hancock: edmonton...@assembly.ab.ca

 

Ministers of Human Services and Health:

I am an Albertan who is severely ill with (Circle – Fibromyalgia, ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Chronic Lyme Disease)  and I struggle to get disability status, education, home help, housing which accommodates my situation, and basic human respect including from many doctors but also from government and public. I want and need physician education, government funding, clinics, and clinical trials specific to my illness and comparable to those for other severe chronic physical illnesses. Currently this is far from the case. Some countries are funding successful clinical trials and patients are getting better. There are 3 MS clinics in Alberta for 11,000 patients and no ME/CFS clinics for 30,000 plus patients.

 

Please meet with stakeholders, and remedy this complex, unbearable situation of social and healthcare exclusion faced by 30,000 plus Albertans. Co-operate with the Ministry of Finance to make this happen. The neglected illnesses listed above may or may not be related but their symptoms overlap and are often treated by the same (rare) doctors.

 

Signed

 

 

Home town:________________________________________________

 

Cc:

MLA ___________________________________________________

 

Finance Minister: Doug Horner: sprucegrov...@assembly.ab.ca