#MEAction Sends Joint Letter Asking Senate to Appropriate $50 million to ME/CFS Research

#MEAction, #NotJustFatigue, and Solve ME have sent a joint letter to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittees asking them to include dedicated funding of $50 million or more to support implementation of the ME/CFS Research Roadmap in the FY27 Labor HHS appropriations bill. 

“Specifically, we ask the Subcommittees to provide no less than $50 million

within the Office of the Director for new and expanded ME/CFS research activities consistent with the Roadmap’s recommendations.”

Building on our Congressional Win: This request for the Senate to dedicate funding to ME/CFS research follows on our Congressional advocacy work - in partnership with #NotJustFatigue - over the past year. Largely as a result of this work, the Senate Appropriations Committee recognized “the urgent need to advance research for ME/CFS” in its July report. In the same report, the Senate Appropriations Committee also directed the NIH “to provide a detailed implementation plan [for the ME/CFS Research Roadmap] to the Committee within 180 days of enactment.”  

#MEAction to Meet with NIH Director: Meanwhile, #MEAction is continuing to pursue a funding commitment directly from the NIH Office of the Director. NIH Director, Dr. Bhattacharya, has agreed to meet with us to discuss the letter we sent to him last month, signed by 2,000 individuals from the community. In the letter, we make the same request: that the NIH Office of the Director allocate $50 million to execute the ME/CFS Research Roadmap. 

Joining the Call for NIH Budget Increase: #MEAction has also signed onto a letter along with 66 organizations - that asks the Senate Appropriations Committee to increase the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget by 8.7%, and to allocate $7.15 billion for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases within the NIH. Healthy reserves at the NIH also improves our chances of securing funding for the ME/CFS Research Roadmap. 

We know that the ME/CFS Research Roadmap could drastically improve the lives of people with ME/CFS and Long COVID, and finally lead us towards the clinical trials and treatments we so desperately need. We won’t stop advocating until this becomes a reality for our community.