ME sufferer Kevin Drake said recognition is only the tip of the iceberg. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

A working committee set up eight months ago to develop a strategy for treating the debilitating illnesses ME and fibromyalgia will soon be submitting its report to the Health Ministry, a government spokesman has said.

“This will pave the way to strengthen existing support services and develop new ones,” he said. “Once it has the final report, the ministry will also listen to the opinion of individual ME sufferers, most of whom have exp­ressed concern that they were ignored by the previous administration, before implementing the new healthcare initiatives in a gradual process.”

The government announced last week that myalgic enceph­alomyelitis (ME) and fibromyalgia were going to be officially recognised as chronic diseases.

People with the conditions welcomed this as “a start” but some questioned what this recognition actually meant.

Activist Kevin Drake, an ME sufferer, said: “The recognition is good, but now what? Recognition is only the tip of the iceberg and recognition without appropriate and timely follow-up action is even worse.”

He insisted on the need to set up a specialised unit for neuro-immune diseases in hospital, train medical practitioners to diagnose the illness and start “a proper regiment of treatment”.

A spokeswoman for ME Sufferers Malta said bringing an international expert to the island to guide practitioners was the best way to ensure doctors were trained to diagnose and treat the condition.

In reaction, the Health Ministry said recognising the conditions as chronic illnesses meant sufferers were entitled to full healthcare services and patients would “now be prescribed for medications within the government’s formulary, as determined by the clinical judgement of their consultant”.

It is unfortunate that we are not invited to participate in the committee

The working committee was set up in July with the participation of NGOs and ME and fibromyalgia sufferers.

The ME Sufferers Malta spokesperson added: “It is unfortunate that we were not invited to participate in the committee.

“Nevertheless, we look forward to their report and hope that it will include means by which the medical profession will be trained to diagnose and treat this condition, using the biological markers that have become standard practice in dedicated ME clinics in the rest of Europe.”