On the 10th of March, as part of Brain Awareness Week, the ME Association co-signed an open letter written by the Neurological Alliances calling for more funding for research into neurological conditions.
Summary
Brain Awareness Week (10-16th March): The four national Neurological Alliances are urging the UK Government to #InvestInNeuroResearch, highlighting the critical need for more funding and research into neurological conditions.
Limited Research Funding: Despite neurological conditions being the leading cause of ill-health worldwide, research in this area received just 8.9% of the UK’s total health research funding in 2022. This lack of investment limits progress in understanding causes, treatments, and management options, leaving many affected individuals with little support.
Campaign and Advocacy: During Brain Awareness Week, the Neurological Alliances have sent an open letter to the UK Government, co-signed by 74 organisations including the ME Association, urging increased investment in neurological research as part of future government research initiatives.
This Brain Awareness Week (10-16th March) the four national Neurological Alliances are working together to raise awareness of the critical need for more research on neurological conditions and calling on the UK Government to #InvestInNeuroResearch.
Facts and Figures
A shocking new study shows that neurological conditions are now the leading cause of ill health worldwide(1). Conditions such as epilepsy, dementia, Parkinson’s, and Motor Neurone Disease are just some of the 600+ neurological conditions that impact millions of people across the UK. Despite at least 1 in 6 people living with a neurological condition, there is severely limited research on these life altering conditions.
The latest figures show that neurological research received just 8.9% of the UK’s total health research expenditure (2022)(2). Researchers working on transformative projects face losing their jobs due to insecure funding, clinical trials are limited in their number, and short funding cycles make sustained research challenging. This leaves countless people feeling lost, with little known about what causes their condition or what possible treatments, interventions or methods for managing their condition might be available.
This has to change.
Throughout Brain Awareness Week, the Neurological Alliances and their charity members will be showcasing the different voices, lives and work impacted by research. Hearing from people living with neurological conditions and researchers working to understand these conditions, a powerful series of videos will be released illustrating the importance of prioritising research into these complex and life altering conditions.
Speaking on behalf of the UK Alliances, Hester Lee, Programme Co-ordinator of the Neurological Alliance of Scotland says,
“Neurological conditions can affect anyone, at any age, and at any time, yet there is still such a limited understanding of how these conditions impact people. This directly affects the availability and quality of treatment, care and support people with neurological conditions receive.
To raise awareness of the critical need for more research into neurological conditions, we are sharing videos throughout Brain Awareness Week from people who live with neurological conditions, people who participate in research studies, and researchers from across the UK who work in neurological research. We are doing this to demonstrate the huge and often unrealised potential of research to transform lives, and to call on the UK Government to prioritise investment into neurological condition research in their new research initiatives.
We hope that you will join us throughout the week to raise awareness about the critical need for more research on neurological conditions by using the hashtag #InvestInNeuroResearch and following our campaign on our social media channels.”
As part of this campaign, the four Neurological Alliances have sent an open letter to the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP, co- signed by 74 member organisations, calling for greater investment into research on neurological conditions. With the UK Government's current plans for research expansion, they believe neurological conditions should be a priority in these developments.
References:
(1) https://www.healthdata.org/news-events/newsroom/news-releases/lancet-neurology-neurological-conditions-now-leading-cause-ill
(2) UK Clinical Research Collaboration. “UK Health Research Analysis 2022”. This report was in early access from December 2023, and formally published on 1st of February 2024, p. 33