§ Jon TrickettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many specialists in myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) are employed in the NHS; how many sufferers from ME there are in(a) each of the Wakefield primary care trusts, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) the UK; what diagnostic tests for ME are recommended to general practitioners by the Department; and if he will make a statement. [162157]
§ Dr. LadymanThe Department does not collect numbers of specialists in myalgic encephalomyelitis ( ME).
The Department does not routinely collect statistics on the prevalence of individual conditions like ME. The report of the independent chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) working group, published in January 2002, estimated a population prevalence of around 0.2 to 0.4 per cent. in adults and around 0.07 per cent in children.
We have asked the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to develop a clinical guideline for the diagnosis and management of CFS/ME. The report of the independent CFS/ME working group, published in January 2002, provides a source of advice to general practitioners on recognition of this debilitating and distressing condition.