Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has allocated to ME/CFS for biomedical research in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement.
We do not hold the information requested on funding for myalgic encephalitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) research according to biopsychological, biopsychosocial and biomedical research.
The following table shows information provided by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) on Departmental programme research funding for ME/CFS, per year, since financial year 2010-11. Further information on this research is available through the NIHR Journals Library at the following link:
https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/
Financial Year | £ |
2010-11 | 189,438 |
2011-12 | 381,874 |
2012-13 | 501,461 |
2013-14 | 561,950 |
2014-15 | 426,055 |
2015-16 | 475,676 |
2016-17 | 554,785 |
2017-18 | 464,902 |
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including ME/CFS; it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. 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.