The launch of the 35th edition of the Telethon, a television marathon intended to raise funds for a charity, mobilizes all television but also all French people, in the face of the fight of patients and researchers. The Telethon record was reached in 2006 with more than 106 million euros collected.
A sum comparable to the 2019 telethon. “A magnificent telethon that erases the disappointments of 2020 “, greet the CEO of the French association against myopathies (AFM), Christian Cottet, after the collection this weekend of nearly 74 million euros in pledges. Since 1987, 2 billion 300 million euros have been invested in research as in aid to families, thanks to the generosity of the French, according to Christian Cottet.
73 622 019 €! Thank you. Our fight can continue.
A counter as strong as the generosity of the public, as the energy felt on the thousands of events that took place throughout France, and as powerful as the struggle of families and the determination of researchers pic.twitter.com/EEupre8EPq
– AFM-Telethon (@Telethon_France) December 5, 2021
– To cure (research and development of innovative therapies),
– To help the sick (care, support, citizenship),
– Communicate knowledge to families, professionals and the general public.
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Since 1958, the French Association against Myopathies (AFM) has been fighting to raise awareness of neuromuscular diseases, and, more generally, rare diseases..
There are between 6,000 and 8,000 of them, most of which are serious, chronic, disabling, and are life-threatening from childhood (in half of the cases, they concern children under 5 years of age). They affect more than 3 million people in France and 30,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in France.
Clinical trials funded by Telethon donations concern rare diseases of the muscles, vision, blood, skin and brain such as:
– spinal muscular atrophy
– congenital muscular dystrophies
– muscle glycogenosis
– Duchenne muscular dystrophy
– Duchenne muscular dystrophy
– Charcot’s disease
– amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
– Steinert’s disease
– inflammatory myopathies
– autoimmune myasthenia gravis.
In 2020, the total activities of the AFM-Telethon, all funding combined, amounted to 89 million euros, 85% of which came from the generosity of the public (i.e. 77.3 million euros from of the Telethon).
Breakdown of budgets
€ 31.4 million for the Healing mission: Institute of Biotherapies for Rare Diseases (Généthon, Institute of Myology, I-stem), therapeutic trials, calls for tenders, international programs and strategic programs.
9.2 million additional euros were invested in the form of advances and investments for the Healing mission.
34.4 million euros for the mission Help : multidisciplinary consultations, healthcare facilities, regional services, technological innovations, the development of innovative technical aids, family days, advocacy actions, the Rare Diseases Platform, etc.
How to donate to the Telethon?
You can make a donation for the 2021 edition: by phone, at 3637 (toll-free number, free call from a landline)
– by SMS by sending “DONATION” to 92007 (fixed amount of € 5 taken directly from your mobile operator bill)
– through Internet http://www.afm-telethon.fr/ (accessible from your computer, tablet and mobile)