Olympian Beth Dobbin writes to Prime Minister Andy Burnham over ME funding

Former British sprinter Beth Dobbin has asked Prime Minister Andy Burnham to fund more research into myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), a long-term illness that has no known cure or specific treatment. She made the request in a letter to him, which she published through a link to an Instagram post.

Dobbin is 32 and competed at the Tokyo Olympics five years ago. She told BBC Sport that she has been diagnosed with ME, and that the illness now keeps her in bed for 22 hours a day. She has left her house on only five occasions this year.

The number of people affected is hard to pin down. More than 400,000 people in the UK are thought to have ME, though the true figure could exceed one million. Dobbin's own post on X puts the figure at around 1.35 million, and says she urgently needs funding for research.

In her letter, Dobbin writes that severe ME patients make up about 25% of people with the condition, and that there are currently no NHS provisions for them. Between April 2019 and March 2024, the government put around £6.5 million into ME research. Earlier this year, when Keir Starmer was prime minister, the government announced £4.75 million for a world-first genomics study, which looks at genes, into the illness.

Burnham became prime minister in July and has vowed to reduce the UK's welfare bill. Department for Work and Pensions figures forecast that benefits spending will rise to £408.6bn in 2030-31. Dobbin's letter does not argue for a link between the two, but it arrives as ministers weigh how much the state spends on people who cannot work.

Dobbin is not the only one making the case. On 17 October, the ME campaign group MEAction said an open letter to Wes Streeting, then health secretary, had been signed by 2,600 patients and carers, calling on the government to act on the illness.

BBC Sport has contacted Downing Street for comment on Dobbin's letter.

What stands out is who is asking. Dobbin spent her career chasing the clock on the track, and now she is asking for attention from her own sofa. Her letter puts a personal story in front of the prime minister, and the numbers she cites show how many people are waiting for the same answer.