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RETURN TO TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Winter 2002
Media
Watch
A report on coverage of
CFIDS in the mainstream media
CNN.com. Due in part to The CFIDS Association of
America’s pitching, CNN ran an article on CFIDS in the health section of its Web
site, CNN.com, on Dec. 25. “Chronic fatigue syndrome — more than just being
tired” was rated the most popular article on the entire site for a week after it
was posted.
Survey, symposium covered.
Promotion of the Association’s new survey of medical professionals and recent
research symposium on the immunological aspects of CFIDS has resulted in a
significant number of media hits, including coverage by Reuter’s Health, WebMD,
Advances for Physical Therapists, Women’s Health Weekly and Immunotherapy
Weekly.
Educating employers.
The
December issue of Vitality magazine contains an interview with the Association
and offers tips for employers and employees on coping with CFIDS. Nearly 30% of
all Fortune 500 companies send Vitality to their employees as part of
their health benefit package.
America’s Doctor series.
AmericasDoctor, a company that provides medical information and other
services to physicians and consumers via the Web, has included CFIDS in its
weekend educational series. AmericasDoctor posted a question-and-answer
session with internist Dr. Inam Rahman on Nov. 5.
Hillenbrand in LHJ.
The
Nov. 1 issue of Ladies’ Home Journal featured an article about writer
Laura Hillenbrand. Instead of focusing on her best-selling book, “Seabiscuit: An
American Legend,” the article discusses her 14-year battle with CFIDS. The
article presents a compassionate picture of the devastation CFIDS can
cause.
PWCs in Reno paper.
The
Oct. 30 health section of the Reno Gazette-Journal describes two local
residents’ struggles with CFIDS. The article recounts the experiences of Andrea
Whittemore, who began experiencing symptoms at age 11, and
Joyce Allen, a
former real estate agent who was very involved in her community before becoming
ill.
CFIDS Radio Interview.
KPFA Radio in Berkeley, Calif., featured CFIDS on its Jan. 16 morning show.
Three patients were interviewed—Dorothy Wall and Willy Wilkinson, contributors
to a CFIDS anthology, and Judith Lopez, author of a book on CFIDS. The PWCs
discussed the ‘invisibility’ of the illness, its effect on relationships and
recent research.
Get Ready for Awareness
Day
May 12 is CFIDS Awareness Day, and now is the time to plan
activities that will help educate others about the legitimacy and reality of the
illness. Here are some things that you, your support group and your friends and
family could do to commemorate Awareness Day:
- Make your government representatives
aware of CFIDS by writing, calling or visiting them.
- Alert the media by contacting health
reporters at your local newspapers, television stations and radio
stations.
- Inform the general public by setting up
displays in your local library or shopping mall.
- Educate health care providers by signing
them up to receive the CFS Research Review, the Association’s medical
newsletter.
For a copy of the Association’s Awareness
Day information packet, which contains sample letters and other tools you can
use in your outreach efforts, call the Resource Line at 704-365-2343 or visit
the Association’s Web site at www.cfids.org.
If you or your support group use CFIDS
Awareness Day to promote the illness, please let us know about it. Brief
descriptions of Awareness Day projects will be considered for coverage in the
Chronicle. Send your descriptions to: Renée Brehio, Director of
Communications, The CFIDS Association of America, PO Box 220398, Charlotte NC
28222, or e-mail to rmbrehio@cfids.org.
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