Brooke Supports Fight Against Terminal Disease

11.11.01am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 22nd Nov 2006

Annette Brooke MP with Dr Kirstine Knox, Chief Executive of the MND Association

Local MP, Annette Brooke, is urging the Government to support research into the debilitating and fatal Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

Brooke, MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, has called on the Department of Health to pledge £7.5 million to help those who have Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

She said:

"I keep in contact with our local support group in Poole and it is obvious that so much more needs to be done for the sufferers of this dreadful disease."

Annette Brooke is supporting the MND Association's campaign to ring-fence the funds, which they will match through their new MND Research Foundation.

The MND Research Foundation is a pioneering initiative that aims to raise £15 million over five years to support national and international research efforts to end MND.

One of the Foundation's flagship projects is a Whole Genome Scan in MND. This project will support a major international genetic research collaboration, which could revolutionise research into the disease. By scanning the human genome, scientists hope to identify specific genetic mutations that might be involved in the development of MND.

Kirstine Knox, Chief Executive for the MND Association, said:

"We are delighted that Annette Brooke has backed our campaign for increased Government funding into MND research. The MND Association wants to see a world free of MND and with the support of MPs such as Annette, we hope we can make this vision a reality."

MND is a rapidly progressive, fatal disease. It attacks the motor neurones that send messages from the brain to the muscles, leaving people unable to walk, talk or feed themselves.

Around 5,000 people in the UK have MND at any one time. With no cure half die within 14 months of diagnosis.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

For more information on MND and the work of the MND Association, please contact Louise Carter, PR and Media Officer, on 01604 611843 or email louise.carter@mndassociation.org