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The UK Government is being urged to ‘come to the table’ and commit more funding for research into motor neuron disease (MND) following the shock diagnosis of former England captain Lewis Moody.
The 47-year-old revealed on Monday that he had the same condition that took the lives of former Scotland international Doddie Weir and rugby league star Rob Burrow
Sean McGrath, Head of Medical Affairs at the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, which was set up by Weir before he died, told Daily Mail Sport that Moody’s diagnosis had come as a ‘shock’ and his ‘heart went out to Lewis, his family and the rugby family’.
McGrath also insisted that time was ticking for Government funding to be secured, with ‘no plans’ forthcoming past 2027 after £50million had previously been secured through the Medical Research Council (MRC) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (MIHR), covering a five-year period.
‘We need the Government to come to the table,’ said McGrath. ‘The My Name’5 Doddie Foundation is putting a lot of money into this, but it has to be a partnership between the Government and charities.
‘We had success with the last Government and I am sure we will have success with this one. We just need to keep the pressure on and we need to make sure the research is carrying on.
Lewis Moody pictured alongside his wife Annie as he spoke to the BBC about his diagnosis
Doddie Weir set up his own charity to help fund research into MND before his death
Moody has joined a number of sportsmen in being diagnosed with MND - with campaigners saying further research is required
‘I think the Government needs to be in there showing the same kind of support as they have done in the past.
‘The Government commitment was through the MRC and the NIHR, and it was a £50million programme over five years. We are pretty much going through that rapidly now.
‘We are spending that, but that kind of runs out in 2027. We need to start engaging with the Government now, to make sure that there’s a consistent supply of research funding into this disease, which will be matched and more, by us as charities. It hasn’t dried up, but there are no plans from the Government post 2027.’
Weir, who passed away in 2022, lived with MND for six years and made it his ambition to try and find a cure for the insidious disease. It was, he stipulated, not ‘incurable; but merely ‘underfunded’.
The former Scotland lock worked tirelessly throughout his diagnosis to raise funds for his charity, which has now given more than £20m to research.
Moody’s diagnosis, meanwhile, has once again raised questions about the link between elite athletes and motor neuron disease. He joins Weir, Burrow, Ed Slater, and former footballer Markus Stewart in all being diagnosed in recent times.
A 2022 study by the University of Glasgow involving 400 former Scottish rugby players concluded they had an increased risk of developing the condition.
McGrath told Daily Mail Sport there ‘probably could be a link between repetitive extreme exercise and the inability of the body to perform cellular healing after exercise’, but said there could ‘also be an underlying genetic cause as well to go alongside that, which pushes you into the disease.’
‘We know that about one in 300 of us will suffer from this disease,’ he added.
‘However, it is definitely not incurable. It’s just underfunded. Therefore, the more funding that we get, the more funding the government gives, the more we can raise, the quicker things will happen.’
