Action Medical Research is a leading independent medical research charity. For nearly 60 years we have been instrumental in the development of some of the most significant breakthroughs in recent medical history beginning with the UK polio vaccine.
Although the charity has changed so many young lives � protecting babies from the damage that rubella can bring, allowing the development of the unborn child to be viewed through ultrasound scanning, and increasing the chances of a child surviving a liver transplant for instance � today�s challenges are no less serious, no less distressing. There is much more to be done. But the medical research that we fund offers hope.
It offers hope for many thousands of sick and vulnerable babies born every year. It offers hope for those with cerebral palsy, often a consequence of premature birth, which brings a lifetime of challenges for many children. It offers hope for those children who are born with rare conditions whose very rarity often makes them less of a priority for research institutions and pharmaceutical companies. And it offers hope for all the families of these babies and children who know only too well the impact of these diseases and conditions on their lives.
But this vital research costs money; with more than 35 research projects looking at some of the most distressing childhood diseases and conditions currently underway, we are making real and significant progress in several areas. But this is simply not enough; we currently have to turn away around half of the very best research projects we want to support, simply because of a lack of funds.