Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has provided for research on the long-term effects of covid-19 on lung health.

The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation, remain committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment for the long-term effects of COVID-19. The NIHR committed £15.06 million to the following three research projects related to the long-term effects of COVID-19 on lung health, between financial years 2020/21 and 2024/25:

• Characterisation, determinants, mechanisms and consequences of the long-term effects of COVID-19: providing the evidence base for health care services;
• HypErpolarised Xenon Magnetic Resonance PuLmonary Imaging in PAtIeNts with Long-COVID (EXPLAIN); and
• HElping Alleviate the Longer-term consequences of COVID-19 (HEAL-COVID): A national platform trial.

Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, Government research funders invested several hundred million pounds to understand SARS-COV-2 and the COVID-19 illness. As COVID-19 is a predominantly respiratory condition, much of this research is relevant to understanding the long-term effects of COVID-19 on lung health. On long COVID specifically, through the NIHR and the MRC, we have invested over £57 million on research studies. The funded projects aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical care.

Funding is available and we welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including on long COVID and lung health. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.