We must keep funding the future

Together with 151 medical research charities, we are calling for the Government to support charity research which has been significantly affected by coronavirus. 

Medical research funding from charities reached a record high in 2019, with Association of Medical Research Charities members like Ovarian Cancer Action investing £1.9 billion into research to tackle the biggest health issues of the nation. Due to the coronavirus pandemic this may drop to an all-time low.

Charities play a vital role when it comes to funding medical research. Charity funding often kicks off innovative projects, funding researchers to test out promising ideas and start collecting the results they need to attract bigger funding from government or industry bodies. Many of the new treatments patients have access to today are thanks to initial funding from AMRC members. 

Charities also put patients’ voices upfront to identify areas of unmet need. They allow people affected by the disease to determine priorities and influence the direction of progress, for example our Ovarian Cancer Action Research Network. 

Cary Wakefield, CEO of Ovarian Cancer Action, said: “We are in a perfect storm where late diagnosis, a slow down in treatment and significant cuts to research funding pose a real threat to women diagnosed with ovarian cancer both now, and in the future. We cannot lose momentum in our ambition to make ovarian cancer a survivable disease. We need help to get our researchers back into their labs to continue their vital work into discovering effective ways to prevent, diagnose and treat ovarian cancer and we need it now.”

Over the past few months many medical researchers have had to leave their labs to work alongside their colleagues in the front line, and some have been diverted to find a coronavirus vaccine or treatment. Like all of us their work has been affected due to budget-cuts and stay-at-home orders. However, like the rest of the country our researchers are adapting to the new normal, and are ready to restart their work finding new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat ovarian cancer. 

We need your help to get ovarian cancer research back on track. To make a donation, click here.