6,912

of 10,000 signatures

To Steve Barclay; Rishi Sunak

We are writing to you today to ask you to support those affected by eating disorders. We must bring to your attention the fact that there has been very little progress in addressing the epidemic of eating disorders, with no effective national strategy in place.

This is why on 20 May 2023, we decided to come together to march for those affected by eating disorders. To march for our loved ones and those we have lost, to march for future generations, for services, the workforce and those who have been discarded from treatment because no one should by dying of an eating disorder in 2023!

Hope Virgo has worked with the previous Minister for Mental Health and met with them and Political Advisors of Prime Minister Johnson at Number 10, but there was no concrete action made after multiple meetings. Clearly political events intervened, but the pressing need to act remains. The United Kingdom's first Eating Disorder Manifesto was launched in Parliament on October 17th, 2022, and a subsequent meeting of an all-party roundtable on November 29th, 2022. Still once again we have been promised action on multiple occasions but none has happened.

Eating disorders have almost trebled between 2007 and 2019, but the pandemic has seen a further surge in cases. According to NHS Digital's 2019 Health Survey for England, 16 percent of those aged 16 and up (19 percent of women and 13 percent of men) screened positive for a possible eating disorder in the previous 12 months. In the most recent 2022 NHS Digital Child Mental Health Survey, the rate of a broader measure of possible eating problems was an alarming 12.9 percent in children aged 11 to 16, 60.3 percent in 17 to 19 year-olds, and 62.2 percent in 20 to 23 year olds. This is a national emergency that must be addressed as soon as possible. 
 
Despite their high prevalence, eating disorders are frequently misunderstood and viewed as a lifestyle choice, a phase that only affects white underweight teenage girls who grow out of their illness. In contrast, the serious trend affects people of all ages, sizes, genders, and ethnicities.

Open letter text

This growing epidemic can only be reversed by investing into prevention, early intervention, and timely high-quality treatment without discrimination depending on age, severity and length of illness, and research to find new and more effective treatments. The current inpatient treatment approach results in poor outcomes and 40-50 percent relapse rates. This could be greatly improved by implementing a new integrated treatment model developed in Italy and validated in Oxford.
 
Eating disorders are a serious mental health issue often hidden in plain sight and they have the highest mortality rate of any other psychiatric illness. No-one should be condemned to a life of illness, nor should anyone be dying of an eating disorder in 2023. 

We are calling on the government to:

1. Meet with the Hearts Minds and Genes Coalition - a groups of eating disorder experts
2. Commit to the development of a stand alone eating disorder strategy with funding for implementation

Sign the open letter

Signers list

Lisa Rudgley
Richard Lee
Alastair Stewart
Rebecca Noel
Katie Scott
Patricia Thomson
Joanne Adamska
Katheryn Carr
Claire Hulett
Charmian Perry
Maria Johnson
Graeme Hinde
Kimberley Jane Clarke
Olivia Neal
Gail Cohen
Rach Rad
Caroline
Karen Jarman
Owen Cooper
Jenny Harrison
Mark Gay
Charlotte Murray
Hannah
Lauren Bingley
Catherine Goss
Caroline Laurie
Philip Gilbert-Smith
Angela Hathaway
Teresa Garrido Tamayo
Helen Withey
Elise La Fontaine
Mark Robertson
Marie Frydenbo-Bruvoll
Lorne Thornhill
Rebecca Myers
Steven Mizen
Mark Wingfield
Beccy Byrne
Cheryl Fisher
Lara Byrne
Simon Whittome
Angela Lillistone
Ramesh J. Gulati
Lee Cudmore
Tracey Mann
Katherine
Katharine Collins
Jamie Cockayne
Aida
Candice Coetser

No-one should be dying of an eating disorder in 2023

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No-one should be dying of an eating disorder in 2023

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