Written question asked by Paul Rowen (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 2 November 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 5 November 2009. It was answered by Baroness Merron (Labour) on Thursday, 5 November 2009 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his Department allocated for biomedical research on the causes and treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis in 2008-09.

Answer: The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government support medical and clinical research. The MRC is an independent body which receives its grant in aid from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.The MRC's total expenditure on chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) research amounted to £730,000 in 2008-09.Over the 10 years to 2008-09, a large part of the Department's total expenditure on health research was devolved to and managed by national health service organisations. Details of individual NHS supported research projects undertaken during that time, including a number concerned with CFS/ME, are available on the archived national research register at:"https://portal.nihr.ac.uk/Pages/NRRArchiveSearch.aspx."

Secondary information