UK House of Commons Written Questions and Answers: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: research: Written question – 70282, 23 July 2020

Question: Asked by Sir Paul Beresford (MP, Mole Valley)  July 7, 2020

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much
Government funding was allocated to biomedical research into myalgic
encephalomyelitis in the financial years (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and
(c) 2019-20.

Answered by Helen Whately (Minister of State, Department of Health and Social Care), 23 July 2020

The following table shows how much Government funding was allocated to
biomedical research into myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as
chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) for financial years 2017-18, 2018-19 and
2019-20.

Financial Year Pounds
2017-18   226,470
2018-19   396,467
2019-20   443,719

In addition to the funding set out above, the National Institute for
Health Research, funded through the Department, and the Medical Research
Council have recently announced a 3.2 million pounds award to fund
research into potential genetic connections to ME/CFS. The project will
analyse samples from 20,000 people with ME/CFS to search for genetic
differences that may indicate underlying causes or increase the risk of
developing the condition.