HealthTrust Europe fundraises for Duchenne UK and helps raise awareness

Duchenne UK has received a financial boost thanks to sweet-toothed colleagues at HealthTrust Europe (HTE) in Birmingham.

HTE’s chosen charity for 2018 is Duchenne UK so, on 7th September, colleagues marked World Duchenne Awareness Day and held a cake sale. A total of £814 was raised, bringing the amount donated so far this year to £3,660.

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) affects 1 in 3,500 boys. It is the most common genetic disease diagnosed in childhood and is caused by lack of the protein dystrophin that affects the entire body. The illness almost always affects boys, and they tend to be diagnosed before the age of five. There are around 2,500 patients in the UK and an estimated 300,000 worldwide.

One of the many projects funded by Duchenne UK is a clinical trial to examine the safety and efficacy of Tamoxifen as a potential treatment for DMD. The drug has been used to treat breast cancer since the 1980s and is also used for hormonal disorders in pre-pubescent boys. Early studies indicate that repurposing Tamoxifen to treat DMD reduces fibrosis, increases the thickness of muscle fibres and causes a delay in disease progression.

Anna Clark is HTE’s Director of Pharmacy and is an ambassador for the charity. She said:

“Duchenne UK provide real hope to patients and parents in the face of adversity and are making significant inroads to prolonging and changing the lives of those living with DMD. The support of HTE in raising both awareness and money during 2018 is incredible and really will contribute to the future landscape of this condition. I cannot express my gratitude enough for all of the support.”

The charity Duchenne UK has a clear vision to fund and accelerate treatments and a cure for the condition for this generation of patients. Emily Crossley, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Duchenne UK said:

“We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone at HealthTrust Europe for supporting Duchenne UK on World Duchenne Awareness Day. We are a lean charity and extremely grateful for your support. You can rest assured that your fundraising WILL make a difference.
“Our charity is spending money right now on research that could make a major difference to the thousands of boys born with DMD. We believe that we are at a breakthrough moment in the history of this disease, a point where treatments and possibly even a cure, are within reach.”

HTE is committed to the care and improvement of human life, strengthening provider performance and clinical excellence through an aligned membership model and the delivery of total spend management solutions that leverage our operator experience, scale and innovation.

More information about the charity can be found on the Duchenne UK website.