EMEA Participation in the 75th session of the World Health Organisation Committee for Europe
EMEA News for October 2025
In 2023 the European ME Alliance received
‘
official Non-State Actor accreditation’ status
from WHO’s Regional Office for Europe during WHO Europe’s 73rd Regional
Committee Meeting (RC73).
This status permits EMEA to participate in WHO Europe Regional Meetings and
to make official statements on agenda topics of interest.
EMEA aims to use this platform to improve awareness, recognition, and action for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) across
WHO Europe’s 53 member states.
European ME Alliance Statement at 75th Regional Committee Meeting for Europe
28–30 October 2025, Copenhagen, Denmark
Agenda Item 10: Ageing is living: a strategy for promoting a lifetime of health
and well-being in the WHO European Region 2026–2030
Honourable Chair, Esteemed Delegates,
The WHO Europe strategy ‘Ageing is Living’ is about living with dignity, independence, and purpose at every age. But to make that vision real, it must include people living with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, known as ME and sometimes referred to as ME/CFS – people whose disability is severe, chronic, and overlooked. ME is devastating. It affects people of all ages, including older adults, who face even greater vulnerability.
For many, life is so limited that requests for euthanasia are far higher than the general population. This is because suffering, isolation, stigma, and lack of support make life unbearable.Instead of helping people to die, we must help them to live – to live with dignity, better quality of life, and hope.
Right now, too many patients are bedbound, unable to care for themselves, and denied support that could help maintain basic functioning and avoid the risk of progression to greater levels of disability. This is not ageing with dignity — it is preventable suffering caused by societal neglect.
We do not know of any other disease where people experience such harmful neglect and disbelief. And we do not understand how this has become morally acceptable in our culture.
We call on WHO and its Member States to ensure ME patients have access to social support, care at home, telemedicine, dedicated hospital rooms, and rehabilitation.
To leave ME out is to accept injustice. To include it is to send a clear, undeniable message: these patients exist, their suffering matters, and society will finally act to support their health, independence, and quality of life — no matter their age.
Thank you.
Read the full statement here.
Last Update: October 2025