Action for ME and ThereForME have produced a joint briefing to support former Team GB sprinter Beth Dobbin’s campaign for increased government funding for ME research.
Beth, who competed at the Tokyo Olympics, has spoken publicly about being mostly housebound with severe ME. On 21 October, she wrote to Andy Burnham calling for greater investment in research. She and her family are seeking a meeting with the Prime Minister.
Our joint briefing sets out the scale of research underfunding, recent scientific developments and the action MPs can take to support her campaign.
People with ME urgently need research that can improve understanding of the illness, develop diagnostic tests and find effective treatments.
The UK has the expertise to help deliver that progress. DecodeME, the world’s largest ME genetics study, has demonstrated the potential of large-scale biomedical research. Sustained investment is needed to build on these findings and strengthen the field.
One immediate opportunity is Sequence ME and Long Covid, which will use long-read whole-genome sequencing to investigate the root causes of these conditions. The UK Government has contributed £4.75 million. Alongside charitable contributions, this still leaves a £15 million funding gap.
Without that additional funding, a third of the ME samples will go unsequenced and the Long Covid arm of the study will not go ahead.
The briefing recommends that the Government:
Recent government contributions are welcome, but a more ambitious and coordinated approach is needed to deliver progress at the scale people with ME deserve.
MPs can support Beth’s campaign by raising her letter and the need for increased ME research funding with the Prime Minister.
If you are contacting your MP about ME research, you can share this briefing to explain the funding gaps and the practical steps the Government can take.
Download our joint briefing on Beth Dobbin’s campaign for ME research funding.
