Iceland Establishes a Clinic for ME/CFS Patients

A specialty clinic for patients with ME/CFS and long-Covid, has been established in Iceland that will serve patients nationwide. It has been named “The Akureyri Clinic” after the town in Northern Iceland where it is located, which notoriously experienced an epidemic of ME/CFS 75 years ago.

The clinic was officially established on August 16th with a ceremony held at Akureyri Junior College, where the Icelandic Minister of Health, Willum Þór Þórsson, and the directors of the Akureyri Hospital and the Healthcare Institution of North Iceland (HSN) signed a cooperation agreement.

Alma Möller the Medical Director of Health, Friðbjörn Sigurðsson MD, Runólfur Pálsson CEO of Landspitali University Hospital and Dr. Jonas Berquist MD and professor at Uppsala University in Sweden also gave short presentations on their view on the possibilities and challenges of the newly established Akureyri Clinic. Two ME/CFS patients, Herdís Sigurjónsdóttir and Vilborg Ása Guðjónsdóttir shared their battle with the disease.

“The Akureyri Clinic is in many ways a unique project on a national and even global scale and we are very proud to participate in this collaboration,” says Hildigunnur Svavarsdóttir, CEO of Akureyri Hospital. “The establishment of the clinic opens up many opportunities. With it, we can better manage the registration of ME/CFS and build a database on ME/CFS and long-COVID, which gives our researchers unparalleled opportunities for research and increased knowledge of the disease for the benefit of ME/CFS patients.”

“The establishment of the Akureyri Clinic is a much needed project, as we have seen a significant increase in the number of people diagnosed with ME/CFS in recent years, especially following Covid-19,” says Jón Helgi Björnsson, CEO of HSN. “It will therefore be crucial to obtain government funding for the operation, which will allow us to begin to increase our knowledge of the nature of ME/CFS and in the process develop a more comprehensive and intensive service for ME/CFS patients nationwide, which is in great demand.”

About ME/CFS

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic disease that can significantly impair patients' quality of life. ME/CFS has a special connection to Akureyri, as 75 years ago an epidemic of ME/CFS struck Akureyri, which became known as the Akureyri disease. The epidemic, which is thought to have been caused by a viral infection, led to several individuals suffering from ME/CFS for the rest of their lives. ME/CFS was later known to both occur in epidemics and as sporadic disease most often following an infection. Most recently the Covid-19 pandemic has put an increased interest in ME/CFS as a certain percentage of patients are experiencing long-term symptoms that are similar to ME/CFS, under the term long-Covid.

Many ME patients have a severely limited quality of life, yet the services provided to this patient group have been limited. The establishment of the Akureyri Clinic is an important step in addressing the needs of the patients and doing research on ME/CFS.