8-14 June 2026

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Home About Carers Week Our supporters and sponsor The ME Association

The ME Association

We support, inform, campaign and invest in medical research to bring relief to people with ME/CFS and Long Covid and those who care for them. 

Established in 1980, we are the leading experts in post-infection syndromes, and are focused on improving UK healthcare for the 1.35 million people that we believe are affected. 

The ME Association:

  • provides essential and personalised support.
  • produces the largest range of expert information.
  • campaigns to raise awareness and understanding.
  • is working with NICE, DHSC, NHS and social care providers to improve UK healthcare.
  • produces ME Essential magazine and ME Medical magazine.
  • is the leading provider of social media information and discussions.
  • has an excellent track record of investing in medical research and stimulating medical research including the largest ever biomedical investment from any charity in the sector (announced December 2025)

ME/CFS and Long Covid:

  • are life-changing and complex medical conditions that do not allow adults or children to function normally.
  • often prevent or restrict the ability to work or go to school, can leave people unable to care for themselves, confined to their beds, and with a very poor quality of life. 
  • share many symptoms in common but also some differences.
  • do not have any effective treatments at this time but can be managed with help from health and social care specialists and an energy management approach known as Pacing. 
  • can stabilise over time and allow an improvement in functional abilities, but these illnesses can affect individuals differently and some can experience a progressive deterioration even with the best management approaches and interventions.

We have been providing expert help since 1980. We understand the challenges faced by people with these conditions and the carers who look after them. We believe that nobody should struggle alone and are determined to change attitudes and improve lives. 

We have established an excellent reputation over the last 45 years and consistently deliver high standards of support, provide reliable and timely information, encourage medical training, undertake effective lobbying, and we make prudent research investments. 

Health Crisis

  • We estimate that more than 1.35 million people in the UK live with ME/CFS and Long Covid, but many remain undiagnosed. 
  • We don’t know how many are reliant on care, but it is believed that around 25% are severely or very severely affected at any one time and will need unpaid or professional help. 
  • Between 5-10% of people who catch an infection can develop a syndrome like ME/CFS or Long Covid from which they are often unable to fully recover. 
  • The most common trigger for ME/CFS is a viral infection like Glandular Fever (the Epstein-Barr Virus).
  • The trigger for Long Covid is an infection by the Covid-19 virus. 
  • There remains a lot that medical science doesn’t know about these conditions, but around 50% of people with Long Covid are believed to meet the diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS, meaning they share the same key symptoms and functional limitations. 

More information

If you need to speak with someone who understands, then please contact ME Connect – the support and information service – which also offers an online forum. 

If you need free expert information, then please review the extensive range of literature and Medical Matters Q&A produced by Dr Charles Shepherd and other topic experts. 

The ME Association website: www.meassociation.org.uk 

ME Association social media: 

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