We are excited to announce that as of today we are rebranding as ME Advocacy Network Australia, affectionately known as MEANA.
In 2016, our group was founded as
#MEAction Network Australia, the first #MEAction affiliate, and the first #MEAction group to set up on Facebook. The group was born out of the struggle of many within the Australian community and with the express interest of advocating for the needs of Australians with ME/CFS and their carers.
Over the last three years our group has evolved into a space where advocates come together to discuss, plan and organise actions relevant to Australians. It has also become a space which fosters collaboration, both between individual advocates and the Australian ME/CFS organisations, with joint initiatives arising from within the group.
We have been able to raise awareness through campaigns like
#MillionsMissing, submit to government inquiries, lobby politicians for improved research funding and access to NDIS and DSP, helped recruit participants for biomedical research and challenged psychosocial research, among other things!
In order for us to keep growing, increase our support of the Australian ME/CFS community and continue to raise awareness, our group members voted to make this change.
MEANA will continue to advocate for the needs of Australians with ME/CFS and their carers, and to collaborate with Australian and international groups.
We would like to thank #MEAction for their support during our time as an #MEAction affiliate. When we first started neither we, nor #MEAction, knew how being an affiliate would work, but we grew and learned together. We look forward to continuing to work with #MEAction and, of course, to supporting #MillionsMissing events in Australia.
