Guido den Broeder

Guido den Broeder (Den Haag, 28 February 1957) is a Dutch writer, econometrician, politician and chess player. He has been a myalgic encephalomyelitis patient since 1987, and is an advocate. He lives in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Career
Den Broeder gained notoriety with the development of the macro-econometric model AMO-K, which for some 15 years was used to study a number of strategic policy scenarios for The Netherlands. From 1990-1995, he was a member of the Economic Committee of the Dutch political party GroenLinks. He was a representative in Rotterdam from 1994 to 2002. An accomplished chess player, he gained the title of FIDE Master and became champion of the Rotterdam region on two occasions. He finished second in the Dutch Correspondence Chess championship of 1980/81, and authored a number of tournament books.

On 1 April 2015, as a protest move, he declared his Rotterdam home as part of a micronation, Paraduin. This was after The Netherlands denied him welfare and the Dutch court refused to hear his case leaving him without means to survive.

Den Broeder was executive producer of action thriller The Russian Bride, released in 2019. It features a desparate father going to extreme lengths to find a cure for his son, who suffers from a mitochondrial disease.

Advocacy
On May 12, 1987, Den Broeder fell ill with myalgic encephalomyelitis, and never recovered. The illness began while he was playing a chess tournament in Hungary in 1990, where he succumbed to exhaustion halfway the event. During the years that followed, he tried but failed to receive disability benefits, despite having been fully insured.

In a letter to GroenLinks chairman Ab Harrewijn, 1996, Den Broeder asked for political attention to the plight of ME patients in the Netherlands. A budget of €2.72 million (6 million gulden) was eventually set aside by Dutch parliament for biomedical research into ME. However, after the Gezondheidsraad produced an advice on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) in 2005, the money was spent on psychological and behavioral studies into cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and graded exercise therapy (GET) for CFS patients.

In 2004, Den Broeder was one of the leaders of a patient revolt against the board of the government-subsidized ME/CVS-Stichting Nederland, which denied ME and CFS patients influence on the foundation's positions and activities. To give patients a voice and counter the foundation's promotion of CBT/GET, he co-founded the ME en CVS Vereniging in 2005, later renamed to ME/CVS Vereniging. As a chairmain (two periods) and guideline representative, he educated patients and doctors about the difference between ME and CFS. He furthermore criticised the publications of the Dutch Health Council and the decisions of the Dutch minister of health.

When in 2011 the International Consensus Criteria for ME were published, and CFS became classified separately from ME in the United States' ICD10-CM coding manual (published in 2015), the decision was made to disband the ME/CVS Vereniging. Den Broeder founded the ME Vereniging Nederland, a national patient organization for ME in the Netherlands. He has served as chairman until this day. Also in 2011, he founded and became president of the Stichting ME Research, a foundation whose purpose is to conduct, promote and interpret research into myalgic encephalomyelitis. He initiated several ongoing projects, including Wetenschap voor Patiënten (Science for Patients).

Den Broeder is a basic income advocate, and served as a board member of the Vereniging Basisinkomen for 13 years. On several occasions he has suggested that ME patients would profit from the introduction of a basic income, leaving behind the unfavorable lottery that the current system for disability benefits has to offer. Findings by the Stichting ME Research indicate that half of the ME patients in The Netherlands have no or insufficient income.

Together with Wendy Boutilier and John Gabor, Den Broeder founded the international group Global Advocates for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis in 2016. GAME supports the application of the International Consensus Criteria for ME.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis

 * 2006 "Zorgindicatie", Lees ME 1, December, p50-51
 * 2007 "Richtlijnen en Knelpunten voor ME/CVS", Lees ME 2, May, p10-15
 * 2007 "De ontwikkeling van een Multidisciplinaire Richtlijn ME/CVS", Lees ME 3, October, p12-14
 * 2008 "Richtlijn in beslissend stadium", Lees ME 4, March, p11-14
 * 2008 "Richtlijn loopt vast, kerngroep vervangen", Lees ME 5, July, p11
 * 2008 "Testen op ME/CVS. Deel 1: de klachten", Lees ME 5, July, p37-41
 * 2008 "Testen op ME/CVS. Deel 2: de ziekte", Lees ME 6, December, p28-31
 * 2009 "Onderzoek NIVEL legt tekortschieten zorg bloot", Lees ME 7, April, p16-19
 * 2009 "Petitie Myalgische Encefalomyelitis aan de vaste commissie VWS van de Tweede Kamer", ErkenME, 12 May
 * 2009 "Petitie Myalgische Encefalomyelitis aan de vaste commissie VWS van de Tweede Kamer", speech, ErkenME, 12 May
 * 2009 "Smurf!", LeesME 9, December, p13-15
 * 2010 "Ervaringen met behandelingen bij ME/CVS", presentation, Landelijke ME informatiedag, Amersfoort, 8 September
 * 2010 "De boom valt en niemand luistert", column, Lees ME 11, October
 * 2011 "Keuringspraktijk UWV. Inspectie Werk en Inkomen: bandbreedte in claimbeoordeling", Lees ME 12, February, p11-13
 * 2011 "Knelpunten in de zorg voor ME-patiënten", presentation, Landelijke ME informatiedag, Driebergen, 12 May
 * 2014 "Doorlopende Enquête Patiёntenperspectief 2012-2013", Stichting ME Research, 8 February
 * 2014 "De postvirale hersenaandoening Myalgische Encefalomyelitis. Stand van zaken 2014", ME Vereniging Nederland, 29 March
 * 2014 "Preconcept Multidisciplinaire Richtlijn ME", presentation, Landelijke ME informatiedag, Utrecht, 12 May
 * 2015 "NIH: 'Pathways to Prevention: Advancing the Research on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome' (draft)", comments, ME Vereniging Nederland, 16 January
 * 2015 "Tips voor nieuwe ME-patiënten", ME Vereniging Nederland, 27 January
 * 2015 "Antwoord op vragen van de Gezondheidsraad", letter, ME Vereniging Nederland, 14 August
 * 2015 "Doorlopende Enquête Patiёntenperspectief 2012-2014", Stichting ME Research, 9 September
 * 2015 "Myalgische Encephalomyelitis (ME)", De Hersenen, MediaPlanet, 16 September
 * 2016 "Gezondheidsraad - hoe anders", presentation, Landelijke ME informatiedag, Den Haag, 12 May
 * 2018 "Gezondheidsraad zet ME-patiënten op zijspoor", SeniorenWijzer, Spring
 * 2019 "Patiëntenorganisaties ME/CVS", presentation, Commissie VWS, Tweede Kamer, 27 March
 * 2019 "Blijft de ziekte ME een ondergeschoven kindje?", SeniorenWijzer, Summer, p24-25

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

 * 2006 "Advies inzake het ZonMW-Onderzoeksprogramma Chronisch Vermoeidheids Syndroom", ME/CVS Vereniging,
 * 2006 "E. van de Putte, 'Exploring Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Adolescents' (proefschrift)", book review, Lees ME 1, December, p42-45
 * 2007 "Gezondheidsraad, 'Verzekeringsgeneeskundig protocol Chronische-vermoeidheidssyndroom'", book review, LeesME 2, May, p44-45
 * 2007 "Advies aan ZonMw inzake de tweede ronde van het Onderzoeksprogramma CVS", May
 * 2007 "NICE Guideline", review, Lees ME 3, October, p32-35
 * 2009 "Chronischevermoeidheidssyndroom: een psychoneuro-immunologisch perspectief", comments, Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie, October, p786-787
 * 2010 "Het chronisch vermoeidheidssyndroom. De beoordeling door verzekeringsartsen", included comments, Inspectie Werk en Inkomen, Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid, November
 * 2012 "Commentaar op het concept van de CBO-richtlijn CVS", ME Vereniging Nederland, 12 April

Patient advocacy

 * 2003 "Van willekeur naar basisinkomen", Attac-lecture, Den Haag, 25 February
 * 2010 "De ME/CVS Vereniging", LeesME 10, May, p8-10
 * 2012 "Samenwerkingsovereenkomst Samenwerkingsverband Pijnpatiënten naar één stem", December
 * 2013 "Een meedenkende patiënt is een goedkope(re) patiënt", Manifest aan de Tweede Kamer, 15 October
 * 2015 "Basisinkomen voor chronisch zieken en mensen met een beperking", presentation, PG Werkt Samen, 30 April
 * 2015 "Vrijheid in solidariteit. Een basisinkomen voor chronisch zieken en mensen met een beperking", Sociaal Bestek, June, p34-36
 * 2017 "De stem van de patiënten en hun organisaties gehoord. Drie pleidooien aan de politiek van ruim 5 miljoen mensen met een aandoening", PatiëntenPerspectief 2021, 21 February

Interviews

 * 2013 Wetenschap voor Patiënten, DossierME, 21 June
 * 2016 Gezond en Wel, GL8 media, 18 November
 * 2018 "ME-patiënt Guido kritisch over erkenning ziekte: 'Nieuwe criteria onbekend'", RTL Nieuws, 19 March

Online Presence

 * DossierME (YouTube)
 * LinkedIn

Learn more

 * Guido den Broeder - Wikisage