The 38th edition of the Telethon, which began on the afternoon of Friday, November 29, concluded the night of Saturday to Sunday with a final prize of almost 80 million euros to benefit research into rare genetic diseases, according to the AFM- Téléthon Association.
At the end of the meeting, in the middle of the night, the counter read 79,801,520 euros, the organizers stated in the closing statement.
The 2023 edition had raised just over €80 million at the end of the weekend and almost €93 million at the end. It was in 2006 when the account reached its record, with more than 106 million euros.
advanced date
“The French were there and contributed almost 80 million euros in donations, which is enormous considering the context. I want to thank everyone who donated,” Laurence Tiennot-Herment, president of the Association, greeted AFP. French against myopathies. -Téléthon.
Behind this amount, “there is a lot of hope for healing for the families,” he stressed.
“We are really relieved, very happy, gratefulgrateful,” the singer Mika, “marathonist” sponsor of this edition, reacted to AFP, highlighting that “it was not easy to change the date” of the event, brought forward due to the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris in December. 8.
“Only by doing the Telethon do we understand the immense effort required to reach this notable figure (…) and it is not over yet,” he added.
In fact, donors can contribute until Friday at 36:37 and throughout the year on the telethon.fr website.
Duchenne myoptopathy
This year is special because a treatment could change the course of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease previously considered incurable. This rare pathology, which destroys muscles and affects one in every 3,000 children in France, is an emblematic cause of the Telethon: in 1958 it was at the origin of the creation of the AFM, the association that organizes this charity marathon to finance the investigation.
The needs in 2025 to finance an “exceptional trial” on this disease “will exceed 30 million euros”, according to Laurence Tiennot-Herment.
Like every year, this weekend thousands of events were organized in many cities in France and the event mobilized France Télévisions for 30 hours of live broadcasting.
In addition to field collections, pledges by phone, online, a game-a-thon and a raffle were on the menu. Many actions “are still scheduled for next week,” Mika recalled.
By 2023, the AFM will have dedicated around €60 million to the research and development of new therapies.
The Telethon product focuses especially on rare diseases, 95% of which remain untreated or even diagnosed, and research still needs funding.
This fundraising will allow the AFM-Téléthon to continue supporting “40 human trials referring to more than 30 different diseases,” said Laurence Tiennot-Herment.
Source: BFM TV
