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Sportspeople back Dobbin’s PM plea on ME funding
More than 350 sports figures, including Olympians Dina Asher-Smith and Tom Daley, have urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to meet former sprinter Beth Dobbin and increase funding for ME research. Dobbin, 32, says the illness leaves her in bed for more than 22 hours a day; her campaign highlights the lack of approved treatments and the need for better research.
The letter says government research funders committed £6.6m to ME research between 2019 and 2024, compared with £79.1m for Parkinson’s and £496.4m for dementia. More than 400,000 people in the UK are thought to have ME, though estimates may exceed one million. Dobbin wrote to Burnham on 21 October and says she has not received a response; she describes how everyday activity can trigger severe and prolonged deterioration.
In short
- More than 350 sportspeople back Beth Dobbin’s call for greater ME research funding.
- ME research received £6.6m in government funding from 2019 to 2024.
- Dobbin says she spends over 22 hours a day in bed.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The case for increasing public funding is that ME affects hundreds of thousands of people, can be profoundly disabling and has few approved treatments, while the reported research funding is modest compared with that for some other serious conditions. Supporters argue that better research could improve understanding and care, and that the scale of unmet need warrants a stronger government response.
The case against
A cautious case is that research budgets are limited, and comparisons between conditions alone do not show what level of funding is appropriate: disease prevalence, research costs, existing evidence and prospects for useful results also matter. Government funders may therefore favour carefully assessed programmes across illnesses, increasing ME funding when proposals offer strong scientific value rather than responding chiefly to a public campaign.
Explained simply
ME, also called myalgic encephalomyelitis, is a long-term illness that can cause severe exhaustion and make everyday activities difficult. Some people experience a marked worsening of symptoms after even small amounts of physical or mental effort, and may need to spend much of their time resting.
Former sprinter Beth Dobbin is campaigning for more research into the illness, which affects hundreds of thousands of people in the UK. Research funding is one focus because there are no approved treatments that work for everyone, and scientists are still studying its causes and how best to help patients.
The campaign involves sports figures including Olympians Dina Asher-Smith and Tom Daley, who have joined calls for greater government support. Its comparison of funding for ME with funding for Parkinson’s and dementia has brought attention to how research priorities are measured.