The National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Guideline Development Committee (ME/CFS GDC) held its fourth meeting on Thursday 26 March 2026 to discuss a transparent framework for prioritising outcomes for the clinical practice guidelines for ME/CFS and related conditions, including Long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and fibromyalgia.

Date: Thursday 26 March 2026
Time: 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm AEDT
Location: Virtual meeting

Key highlights

  • Members reviewed new declarations of interests and determined that all were low risk and none required management strategies.
  • Members noted that the ME/CFS Diagnosis Working Group met on 12 February 2026 to discuss clinical diagnostic criteria for the new ME/CFS Clinical Practice Guidelines.
  • Members endorsed a methodological approach to guideline development that will provide working groups with an agreed framework that they can use to develop guidance for each chapter of the guidelines.
  • Members reviewed a draft ME/CFS guideline logic model as the organising framework to guide the next phase of work, including working group prioritisation of clinical questions and outcomes.
  • Members agreed that working groups would meet to prioritise clinical questions for each chapter of the guidelines.
  • Members agreed that as per GDC governance processes, all working group deliberations will be bought back to the GDC for formal review and endorsement.

Next steps  

  • The next meeting of the ME/CFS GDC is planned for June 2026 and will focus on finalising clinical questions.