Report passed to MPs

The Macular Society’s fight for more research funding was taken to the politicians over the autumn. 

Macular Society CEO Cathy Yelf and Oswestry Group Leader Malcolm Johnson took copies of our research report to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, handing the report to the former Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Diane Abbott. 

Trustee Alan MacFarlane joined Cathy at the Conservative conference in Birmingham to meet Health Minister Philip Dunne and Health Select Committee member Maggie Throup.

The report, ‘AMD: Collaborating to find a cure’, sets out the impact of AMD and the shocking lack of funds for research to find better treatments. In it we revealed that less than one fifth of one percent of public funding of medical research goes to AMD. This is in spite of the fact that AMD is by far the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK and the numbers with it are set to double by 2050. 

Cathy Yelf said: “It’s vital that politicians understand the impact of AMD. We urgently need to invest in medical research now otherwise many millions of people will lose their sight in the coming decades.
“Big sight loss charities don’t fund medical research so our work is vital both in raising awareness of the need for investment and in actually funding medical research.” 

Leading figures support our campaign:
The Rt Hon Lord Blunkett said: “Sight loss brings unique and life-changing challenges. The Macular Society’s report is an important stepping stone towards securing better health outcomes for people and their families following a diagnosis of age-related macular degeneration. It provides a strong platform to generate funding, raise awareness and improve understanding of the far-reaching consequences of this devastating disease.”

Your support is vital if we are to find better treatments and one day a cure for macular disease.