Wera Supports Call For Increased Funding And Research Into Fibromyalgia

21 January 2019

Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath, has supported a call for increased funding and research into the disability fibromyalgia...

Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes widespread chronic pain across the body and is recognised in the Equality Act 2010 as both a disability, and an invisible illness.

There is a general misunderstanding of this condition due to its invisible nature, which unfortunately creates a tendency for people to tiptoe around it. This leads to sufferers feeling helpless, and those who care for them feeling ignored. There are clear parallels to how eating disorders are both viewed and approached.

However groups such as the Bath Fibro Group come together twice a month to give vital peer-to-peer support, and establishing a community which is so badly needed. Wera recently met Bath resident Julie Britten, who founded the group in 2012, to learn about the disability and to listen to those who have been so deeply affected by it.

It is clear that increased research and funding is paramount to giving so many people a better quality of life, and that finding specialist facilities to address the disability would also be a very positive step.

The motion to back extra help for sufferers was debated last week in the Westminster Hall, and was passed unanimously.

Fibromyalgia campaigner Adrienne Lakin said: "It is really phenomenal. When there were 'ayes' all around the room I was in shock. I couldn't believe it. It's going to make a lot of changes to people's lives. I can't even put it into context yet what it is going to achieve."

Wera said: “Fibromyalgia is a condition which deeply affects so many people. It is horrible to see a loved one suffering, and the work of carers up and down the country should be admired and applauded. The passing of this motion to back extra help is a very positive step, and I will give my help and full support to this campaign, should they need it at any step of the journey.”

You can sign and support the petition to make fibromyalgia a recognised disability here:

https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-make-fibromyalgia-a-disability