CCI Support Media
Submission: Disability Support Services Bill 2026
Submitted by: Complex Chronic Illness Support (CCI Support) 4/6/2026 Tēnā koutou katoa, Thank you for the opportunity to submit on the Disability Support Services Bill. Complex Chronic Illness Support (CCI Support) is a New Zealand charitable organisation providing...
Otago: Chronic illness linked to hardship – study
New NZ research shows what many of you already know: ME/CFS and hardship go hand in hand A University of Otago-led study, published in BMC Public Health in May 2026, is the first in New Zealand to use linked national data to look at how people with ME/CFS are faring...
Newsroom: The Long Covid paradox: everywhere but nowhere
Full article: https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/14/the-long-covid-paradox-everywhere-but-nowhere/ The article describes what it calls the “paradox” of Long COVID: despite being widely present in society, it remains largely invisible in public awareness, policy, and...
Scoop: CCI Support Launches Matched Giving Campaign & Silent Auction To Support Aotearoa’s ‘Invisible’ Community
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE2603/S00045/cci-support-launches-matched-giving-campaign-silent-auction-to-support-aotearoas-invisible-community-bay-of-plenty.htm To help protect its essential services, CCI Support has launched two major fundraising initiatives: a...
ODT: Hospitalised Kiwis deserve financial fairness, not hardship
Full Article: https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/hospitalised-kiwis-deserve-financial-fairness-not-hardship Fiona Charlton highlights the plight of chronically ill New Zealanders facing financial hardship due to a policy that cuts benefits and superannuation after 13 weeks...
Spinoff: ME/CFS patient estimates have doubled – but the disease is still ignored
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/03-06-2025/me-cfs-patient-estimates-have-doubled-but-the-disease-is-still-ignored ME/CFS is a serious, growing health crisis in Aotearoa, intensified by Covid-19. Despite growing evidence and rising prevalence, NZ’s healthcare system...
ODT: Study provides data on life with ME
A new study examining the challenges faced by people with chronic illness highlights areas for improvement. Full article: https://www.odt.co.nz/the-star/study-provides-data-life-me Study Overview: Examined challenges faced by people with ME/CFS using anonymised...
$10K Grant Helps Charity Tackle BOP’s Hidden Health Crisis
“BayTrust is proud to help support the important work that they do, and strongly encourages other organisations, businesses and individual donors to get involved to help CCI Support keep up with the growing demand for their services.”...
ME/Chronic fatigue syndrome: The illness trapping people in their bodies
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, is a neurological disease. But misinformation from decades ago, which claimed it was psychological has resulted in stigma that still impacts the care of patients today. “Someone who is so...
Media: Health Services stretched for LONG COVID
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Helen Clark Foundation – Long COVID – are we taking it seriously enough
Post-meeting recording can be found here: Long Covid - are we taking it seriously enough? Wednesday 3 April, 12pm-1.15pm Join us for an expert discussion on long Covid. As the public focus on Covid-19 has waned and the public has largely returned to...
RNZ: Are insurers wrongly declining ME/CFS claims?
Full story: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018932623/are-insurers-wrongly-declining-me-cfs-claims Some people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome say they are being denied personal insurance because insurers deem it to be a mental health issue,...
ANZMES Awards NZ Academics 25K Grants to Boost ME Research
Two New Zealand researchers have been chosen to receive the Associated New Zealand Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Society (ANZMES) annual grant of $25,000 to undertake vital research into increasing understanding of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME, also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), in Aotearoa.
NZH: Woman who was accused of faking her illness dies
Tributes have poured in after Stephanie Aston, the young woman who publicly stood up for herself after being told she was faking her symptoms by doctors, has died. “Even until the very end she was keen to help anyone and lend an ear. You will be sorely missed. I hope...
Petition response: ANZMES welcomes Committee recommendations for improved access to disability services for people with ME / CFS
ANZMES, the National Advisory on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), has welcomed the Health Select Committee’s (HSC) response to its petition delivered in September 2022, calling on the Government to reclassify ME as a disability. The Health Select Committee presented...
Disabled Peoples right to health
https://tikatangata.org.nz/news/end-of-covid-restrictions-doesnt-end-disabled-peoples-right-to-health?fbclid=IwAR2VqxMX2BUwhk6pVqtgKPFvkFquJgAVWLHH-eLPRWkcHxrrZ0t38xshbZE The last of the Covid protections may have lifted, but disabled people still have the right to...
Capsule: They said it was menopause – it is Long COVID
https://capsulenz.com/be/long-covid-gaslit/ Sadly, Sarah is one of the many, many women in New Zealand – and abroad – who are being diagnosed with Long Covid, and worse still, after very long periods of time, during which, many women are being gas lit about their...
RNZ: Prof Danny Altmann: the burden of long COVID
A scientific review of the world's research into long Covid carried out by a team of leading UK researchers has led them to declare the burden of the post-infection condition "so large as to be unfathomable". While the Australian government has allocated $50m for long...
The Press: ‘A shell of my former self’: Broadcast journalist Joy Reid’s battle with long Covid
Joy Reid is a “shell” of her former self. The broadcast journalist went from thriving on the adrenaline and fast-paced nature of news, to being unable to watch it on television. Reid has been off work for months with long Covid. Full article can be read here:...
RNZ: Long Covid and ME/CFS are the same illness, researcher says
Long Covid and ME/CFS (formerly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) are effectively the same illness, according to a University of Otago researcher. Emeritus Professor Warren Tate leads a team at the University of Otago's Department of Biochemistry that has been...
