Hello to all our supporters and readers of the Emerge Australia newsletter!
Thank you to our wonderful community
This is the first newsletter of our new financial year and I want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated to our end of financial year (EOFY) appeal. Thank you for your donations and for sharing our appeal on social media and with family and friends. It made a huge difference and we came very close to reaching our $60,000 target, which is an amazing result given Australia’s current tough economic climate.
We understand that apart from you or your loved one/s having ME/CFS or long COVID, many are struggling and doing it tough. On top of that, it is winter, which brings health challenges none of us need. In Emerge Australia alone, we are currently working with a skeleton staff given so many staff and/or their families have or are impacted by COVID and other personal issues.
If you are unable to access our Telehealth Service, we ask for your understanding at this time. All staff working in our Telehealth service are either unwell (COVID) or dealing with personal issues. We should be up and running again by 15 July and will respond to all messages when back on deck. Thank you for your patience at this time and we do apologise for any inconvenience.
Among Emerge Australia’s ongoing priorities for the new financial year, we will focus on:
- Participating in consultations with other stakeholders on new ME/CFS Clinical Guidelines
- Expanding Emerge Australia Telehealth Service to include consultations with allied health professionals
- Continuing expansion of our accredited clinical education to GPs across Australia
- Delivering a targeted clinical education program to GPs in the ACT
- Growing participation in the Emerge Australia/Mason Foundation Biobank and AusME Registry
- Participating as Chief Investigators and Associate Investigators across three MRFF research projects
- Actively participating on a range of committees associated with improvements to the NDIS
- Actively participating in the Neurological Alliance of Australia and other similar collaborations
Our main priority in all of this work is to ensure the voices of those with ME/CFS and long COVID are seen, heard and represented and bring about change in government health policy. We continue to strive for access and equity across health and clinical service delivery and, together with the research community, to strive for treatments that improve your quality of life.
This continues to be our pledge to you – our community – and we greatly appreciate your ongoing support of the work we do on your behalf.