M.E. is costing UK…
3.5 bn a year
9.5 m every day
100 a second
…how long can we afford it?
Cost to the Nation Report
by Action for M.E.
12 May 2003
The cost of M.E.
The current official estimate is that M.E. affects 240,000 people – four people in a
thousand*. Accepted as a “real, serious and debilitating condition” by the
government in 2002, M.E. presents a wide scale health problem to the UK economy.
Action for M.E. has calculated that the total cost to the nation is 3.46bn per year
While it is relatively simple to calculate the direct financial losses of long-term ill
health this is a rather simplistic and even crude way of illustrating its effects. M.E.
destroys lives. The profound impact loss of health has on an individual is difficult, if
not wholly impossible, to measure in monetary terms. Good health is immeasurable.
The following report calculations attempt to measure only the most tangible of costs
to the economy, namely lost revenue, benefits and healthcare spend. Over 90% of
these figures are due to lost income.
There is no cure or effective treatment for M.E. at present and contrary to popular
belief, not everyone recovers. Those that do, often take years and few are able to
return to pre-illness levels of activity and full-time employment. The cost of M.E. is
therefore not one to rapidly disappear.
M.E. – the economic cost (2002 ’s)
Total cost to the community
Cost per person () 14,746
Estimated UK cost* () 3,467m
* Figures in this table are based on 0.4% (235,157) of the UK Population at 2001 Census (58,789,194)
Health costs
Total medical costs amount to 210m per annum.
The medical costs of the illness are nearly 900 per person each year. This mainly
consists of consultations, tests (to exclude other illnesses) and drugs to help manage
symptoms in the absence of an effective treatment.
Benefits and lost earnings
Public purse costs – benefits and lost taxation – amount to 2,222m.
Around 80% of people with M.E. had been in employment before becoming ill. The
loss to the Treasury in tax and national insurance (at the lower 2002 rates of N.I.) is
calculated at over 4,100 per person.
Over 75% of respondents reported receiving benefits, usually incapacity benefit.
These cost over 4,800 for each person. Many struggle to get benefits they are
clearly entitled to due to lack of information and discrimination against people with
M.E.
Annual cost of M.E. per patient (2002 ’s)
Total ()
Health sector 896
Lost income 13,850
Total (per patient) 14,746
Note: Lost income extrapolated from Average Earnings Index.
The human cost
M.E. affects adults of all ages and even children as young as five. Most often
triggered by a virus, M.E. causes severe fatigue, muscle and joint pain, sleep
disturbances, short-term memory and neurological problems. Family members often
have to take on the role of a carer as the patient slides into long-term illness with little
support from the health service. A lucky minority recover in a year or two, a quarter
become permanently house or bed bound with little improvement in sight. Few ever
recover to pre-illness levels and many lose out on employment and education as a
result.
What next?
The only real long-term solution is to identify an effective treatment. Although the
need for research has been recognised there are no government funds specifically
allocated for this purpose despite the high cost and prevalence of M.E. As a result,
we still do not know what causes M.E. and why some people become more severely
affected than others. There is no diagnostic test. There are also no effective
treatments to offer people with M.E. On a more basic level, most professionals who
come in contact with patients have not received any training on the condition.
Education on the importance of early diagnosis and management is vital in
preventing more people from becoming severely and chronically ill with M.E.
We feel that as a bare minimum, 1% of the estimated cost of M.E. – 35 million
– should be allocated to establish a thorough research programme into M.E.
This is the only way to begin to prevent this tremendous waste of money and
lives and find a permanent solution to the national health hazard of M.E.
For further information please contact:
Action for M.E.
73 Watling Street
London
EC4M 9BL
Tel: 020 7329 2299
Fax: 020 7329 3600
Website:
www.afme.org.uk
e-mail:
london@afme.org.uk
Registered charity number: 1036419
Notes to the survey
1. The Chief Medical Officer’s Working Group Report on CFS/ME in 2002 identifies
a population prevalence of at least 0.2% - 0.4% which is used throughout this report
2. Statistical analysis of original data and an update to 2002 figures were carried out by
the Survey and Statistical Research Centre (SSRC) at Sheffield Hallam
University who take no responsibility for the quality of the data
3. All estimates are subject to error and should be regarded as “ballpark” figures only
4. The data was calculated using earlier survey information produced through a postal
questionnaire sent out by Action for M.E. and M.E. Association in 1994 with 2,971
replies, a response rate of around 30%
5. Action for M.E. wishes to place on record its appreciation for the pioneering work and
contributors to the 1994 Cost to the Nation Report.
no point in re-inventing the wheel 
