Show solidarity with the ME/CFS community on Awareness Day.
Today, we make ME/CFS visible.
On International ME/CFS Awareness Day, we honour the millions of people around the world living with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) — a serious, complex, and often invisible disease that continues to steal lives, families, careers, education, and futures.
For many, ME/CFS means losing the ability to participate in everyday life. Simple activities can trigger debilitating post-exertional malaise (PEM), worsening symptoms for days, weeks, or longer. Many people are housebound or bedbound. Too many still face misunderstanding, disbelief, and isolation while waiting for answers.
But today is also about something powerful: visibility.
Across our global community, patients, carers, advocates, clinicians, researchers, and supporters are coming together to ensure that people living with ME/CFS are seen, heard, and believed.
At Open Medicine Foundation Australia (OMF Australia), we remain committed to accelerating rigorous scientific research, advancing medical education, and driving collaboration across institutions and borders. Every study, every discovery, and every shared story brings us closer to better diagnostics, effective treatments, and ultimately a cure.
Community Voices
Showing the reality of life with ME/CFS
This year, we invited our community to share personal reflections, photos, and messages that answer prompts like:
“What does ME/CFS take from you?”
“What do you wish people understood?”
“What keeps you going?”
The response has been deeply moving.
Every story shared represents courage. Every voice helps challenge stigma, raise awareness, and remind the world that ME/CFS is not rare, not imagined, and not something anyone should face alone.
To everyone who is participating: thank you for using your limited energy to help others feel seen.
ME/CFS is watching life happen to other people while you slowly fade away.
Help us keep the momentum going
Awareness creates understanding. Research creates change.
Today, we invite you to stand with the ME/CFS community by amplifying these voices and supporting urgently needed research. You can make a difference by:
- Sharing our Awareness Day posts on social media
- Supporting research with a tax-deductible donation
- Encouraging those in your circle to learn more and get involved
Together, we are building momentum toward a future where people with ME/CFS are diagnosed earlier, treated effectively, and no longer left behind.