ACTION FOR MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS

Motion Text

That this House congratulates the charity Action for ME on a successful Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Encephalopathy (ME) Awareness Week, which this year ran from 8th to 14th May; notes that there are 240,000 people in the UK with ME, and that a recent survey by Action for ME has estimated that 55,000 of these people are so severely affected by the illness that they are either bed-bound or house-bound; is concerned that the survey also suggests that 77 per cent. of the total 240,000 people in the UK with ME have lost their jobs because of the illness, with a cost to the nation of £6.4 billion a year; believes that there needs to be greater understanding of the illness if it is to be properly combated; and congratulates Action for ME on all the positive work they have done to raise awareness about this illness and to increase funding for research.