Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding has been allocated by his Department for research into the (a) causes, (b) treatment, and (c) long-term effects of long covid in children and young people.

The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, the NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, have jointly invested over £57 million into long COVID research with the aim of improving diagnosis and our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the disease, evaluating the effectiveness of pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, and clinical care. This research will support the treatment of long COVID in children and young people, as well as adults.

We have also funded research specifically focused on long COVID in children and young people, including the approximately £1.9 million CLoCk study jointly funded by the NIHR and MRC. The study developed an agreed definition of long COVID in children and young people and associated symptoms, to improve understanding of the condition and help harmonise research.

The NIHR and MRC remain committed to funding high-quality research into the causes, treatments and long-term effects of long COVID. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care including long COVID in children and young people. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.