United to End MND

The UK Government has committed to continue discussing the need for targeted MND research as our ‘United to End MND’ campaign continues.

The campaign is being lead by a coalition of MND charities, researchers and clinicians across the UK. MND Scotland, the MND Association of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation have joined together to ask for more targeted MND research.

The commitment from came during a meeting with Minister Helen Whately MP to discuss the future of Government funding for MND research.

Our coalition is asking for an investment of £50 million over five years in to targeted MND research and we took the opportunity to present our proposals at a virtual roundtable meeting. Also in attendance at the meeting were experts from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), as well as leading research funding bodies the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC).

Speakers David Setters and Emma Moss, both living with MND, portrayed the physical and emotional impact of MND incredibly powerfully. The Minister also spoke about her recent meeting with people with MND in her constituency and how moved she’d been by their experiences.

We also heard the UK’s most eminent MND scientists make a very strong case for increasing UK Government funding for MND research. Thanks to Professor Chris McDermott, Professor Ammar Al-Chalabi, Professor Dame Pam Shaw, Professor Kevin Talbot, Professor Nigel Leigh and Professor Siddharthan Chandran for their contributions.

With a need to maintain research momentum, UK Government investment is the key to the ongoing urgent search for treatments and a cure for MND. Currently funding from charities outstrips that from the UK Government.

During the meeting, the officials committed to continuing the conversation with the coalition, having been left in no doubt of the need to address the issue.

We now look forward to working with Government to significantly increase funding in targeted MND research.

Find out how you can support United to End MND here.