CFIDS News
Keeping you up-to-date on recent events across the nation and around the world

WHO guide protested
A booklet published under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO) has caused widespread anger in the CFIDS community because it classifies the disease as a psychiatric illness.

The booklet, "WHO Guide to Mental Health in Primary Care," was developed by the WHO Collaborating Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry of Kings College in London. The booklet carries the WHO's name but is not officially endorsed by the organization.

The designation of CFIDS as a mental disorder contradicts the WHO's own classification of chronic fatigue syndrome under illnesses of the nervous system and the brain. The CFIDS Association of America has joined a host of other CFIDS advocacy groups in filing letters of protest with the authors and WHO. As of press time, officials at the WHO Collaborating Centre have declined to change their classification.

"I Remember Me" debuts
Filmmaker Kim Snyder's award-winning documentary "I Remember Me" was scheduled to make its theater debut on Nov. 9 in New York City. The film chronicles her five-year struggle with CFIDS. "I Remember Me" has won critical acclaim at a number of film festivals across the country - including the best documentary award at the Denver Film Festival. Plans for a limited theater release of the film were pending at press time.

"I Remember Me" was scheduled for a two-week run at The Screening Room, 54 Varick St. in Manhattan. For more information on the film, check Snyder's Web site, http://www.irememberme.com.

Gulf war benefits grow
Congress has expanded disability benefits for Persian Gulf war veterans who have developed CFIDS or fibromyalgia (FM) since the 1991 conflict. The law closes an odd loophole that had denied some vets coverage. Until the law passed, veterans with a formal diagnosis of CFIDS, FM or similar diseases were denied benefits - while those who had the same symptoms but had not received a diagnosis were granted medical and other benefits.

In another Gulf war development, British defense officials said that tests on their veterans showed no trace of Gulf War Syndrome. Thousands of U.S. and British vets have complained of symptoms ranging from the flu to asthma and chronic fatigue since serving in the conflict. A recent survey published in the British Medical Journal found that 17 percent of British servicemen believe they have the syndrome.

Name change draft available
The Name Change Working Group of the federal CFS Coordinating Committee (CFSCC) has been meeting every two weeks for the past 18 months to build consensus on an alternative to "chronic fatigue syndrome." The group has released a draft of its recommendations and is interested in feedback from persons with CFIDS, medical professionals and other interested parties. The alternative term proposed by the group is Chronic Neuroendocrine-immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CNDS).

To view and respond to the group's draft recommendations, which include a rationale for the term, visit the Association's Web site at http://www.cfids.org/advocacy/name-change.asp, or send self-addressed, stamped envelope marked "Name Change" to the PO Box address on the inside cover of this issue. The working group will prepare final recommendations for the next meeting of the CFSCC, which has not yet been announced but is unlikely to take place before year-end.