Poland



-brief description-

Medical guidelines
In Poland ME/CFS does not officially exist as a disease entity, therefore there are no general, medical guidelines.

Government health insurance
Doctors from the government medical system do not know of ME/CFS; therefore, most of these patients are diagnosed as having a psychiatric condition and are treated only with antidepressants.

Private health insurance
A very small group of doctors in private practice know of the existence of ME/CFS. In most cases an official diagnosis is made when the patient, after doing his/her own research, discovers information about ME/CFS, then finds a doctor who knows this disease. In Poland at this moment (2018) the diagnosis of ME/CFS can only be established in two places: the Praxis Clinics, which are located in the cities of Bydgoszcz and Poznań. At these clinics, testing for dysautonomia is also possible. The treatment strategy in the Praxis clinics is based on the improvement of the functioning of the autonomous nervous system through movement, which is formally called GET, but is not identical to the original GET therapy. This is the only available therapy.

Access to care
Very few patients are correctly diagnosed. Other than antidepressants and movement therapy (which is only available privately), there are no existing treatment possibilities for ME/CFS in Poland.

Social security and disability benefits
Social security and disability benefits    Since ME/CFS does not exist as a disease entity in Poland, it is not possible to arrange disability benefits, a certificate of disability or a certificate of inability to work. The situation of Polish ME/CFS patients is especially dire, taking into consideration the fact that the average Polish salary of one person is not adequate to cover the needs of two people. Therefore, even those patients who are unable to work, but have a partner who works, still face many major financial struggles.

Patient charities
Unfortunately, in Poland there are no charities devoted to ME/CFS. Patients who seek support find only a small and slowly developing support group on Facebook “"Grupa Wsparcia ME/CFS (błędnie znane jako 'zespół przewlekłego zmęczenia')”. Another source of support from an informational standpoint is the slowly developing webpage mecfs.pl by a Polish ME/CFS patient.

Researchers

 * 2019, Prevalence and characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) in Poland: a cross-sectional study - (Full text)

Learn more

 * 2016, ME in Poland - Help me raise awareness and funding across the EU
 * https://mecfs.pl/
 * https://poradniapraxis.pl/przewlekle-zmeczenie/zespol.html