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ME/CFS AUSTRALIA (SA) INC
Registered Charity 698
Mailing address:
GPO Box 383,
Adelaide,
South Australia 5001
Office:
266 Port Road,
Hindmarsh,
South Australia 5007
Ph: (08) 8346 3237
('834 MECFS')
Office Hours:
Wednesdays, 10am-3pm
Support Line:
(Mondays and Thursdays,
10am-3pm)
Ph: (08) 8346 3237
SA country callers:
Ph: 1300 128 339
(local call)
FIBROMYALGIA HELP: Contact Fibromyalgia SA at the Arthritis Foundation of SA 118 Richmond Road, Marleston 5033 Ph: (08) 8379 5711 |
ME/CFS Australia (SA) Inc supports the needs of sufferers of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and related illnesses. We do this by providing services and information to members.
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Disclaimer
ME/CFS Australia (SA) Inc aims to keep members informed of the various research projects, diets, medications, therapies etc. All communication, both verbal and written, is merely to disseminate information and not to make recommendations or directives.
Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed on this Web site are not necessarily the official views of the Society or its Committee and are not simply an endorsement of products or services.
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New Zealand’s leading authority on CFS rewarded in New Year’s Honours
Monday 31 December 2007
Dr Ros Vallings has been awarded The Order of New Zealand, MNZM.
ANZMES (Associated New Zealand Myalgic Encephalopathy Society) is proud to acknowledge Dr Ros Vallings who has been made a Member of The New Zealand Order of Merit, MNZM in the 2008 New Year’s Honours.
Dr Ros Vallings has been given the award for her voluntary work in both the local community and throughout New Zealand. The award is made with special recognition for her services to people with Myalgic Encephalopathy/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).
Dr Vallings, a general practitioner in Auckland since 1967 and New Zealand’s leading authority on ME/CFS, has organised her practice so that she mainly sees patients with ME/CFS and related disorders, and has seen over 3,000 patients with the illness, many of whom travel great distances to see her. General practitioners throughout New Zealand refer patients with ME/CFS to Dr Vallings because of her specialist knowledge in this area.
The award recognises Ros Vallings as an exceptional individual who has made extraordinary contributions to enhance the quality of life of community members suffering from ME/CFS. Her special areas of interest also include women’s health and the use of hypnosis in treating chronic pain and anxiety disorders.
In addition, Dr Vallings has continued to serve the community in a number of roles, in a purely voluntary capacity. In the past these have included: Assistant Medical Director of the Auckland Family Planning Association; Medical Adviser to the Breast Cancer Support Service; Board member of the Macleans College; Member of the IACFS; Editorial board member of the International Journal of CFS; President of the NZ Society of Hypnosis and as Past President and current Medical Advisor to ANZMES.
Dr David Bell, board member of The International Association for ME/CFS, summarised Doctor Vallings services to the community by saying “…Dr Vallings has lived a career of clinical excellence combined with a compassion that makes her unique.”
Dr Vallings keeps up to date on the latest research and thinking on ME/CFS. Attending and reporting on overseas conferences, she maintains contact with specialists and researchers internationally. Articles by Dr Vallings have been published in major medical journals.
In a voluntary capacity, Doctor Vallings travels throughout New Zealand disseminating this information to both patient and doctor groups. Patients have found this on-going support extremely valuable, especially as the illness tends to create isolation for many of them.
The Honorable Ruth Dyson said “Doctor Vallings adds considerable expertise to the area of ME and her work is invaluable to those who experience this condition.”
Dr Ken Jolly from Nelson, himself an ME/CFS sufferer for over 30 years with a strong interest in the disease, when hearing of the award said “[It] Is fantastic news. Ros is most deserving of this award because of the empathy and caring that she naturally shows towards patients and their families. She never forgets that the families also need support. While she is very well known in the ME/CFS community, the award will bring her accomplishments to the notice of the wider New Zealand public and to general practitioners who are keen for more information on this perplexing condition. It will also add to her standing internationally as a New Zealander in the field of ME/CFS where current research around the world is exciting and widespread through many university centers.”
Steve Napier, an ME sufferer from Whakatane, commented: “Dr Valling’s very sound and practical advice allowed me to continue working through my illness, without her help I would have had to close my business down. Dr Vallings does a fantastic job and is very worthy of the award.” And from Margaret Stuart in Gisborne: “For all the time effort and personal expenditure she commits to help sufferers and their families coping with ME/CFS, she thoroughly deserves the Order of Merit, New Zealand.”
On hearing of the award Heather Wilson, President of ANZMES, said ”I am delighted to hear that Ros has been honoured in this way; there is no one more deserving, her contribution to the community and the country is a positive example to others that change for the better can be brought about by commitment and application.”
ANZMES, who Ros has served in a voluntary capacity for over 27 years, is one of the oldest ME associations in the world, a New Zealand charity that that campaigns for and provides support and information to members of the community suffering from the debilitating illness ME/CFS.
To learn more about ANZMES, visit the web page on www.anzmes.org.nz.
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