Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department funds research into Lyme Disease; and if he will make a statement.

The Department funds health and care research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and is funding research into Lyme disease diagnostics through the NIHR Health Protection Research Units.

We are investing over £1 billion a year in health research through the NIHR. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including on Lyme disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.