Thousands sign US petition to increase type 1 diabetes cure research

More than 205,000 people have signed a US petition urging large diabetes organisations to provide more funding towards research to find a cure for type 1 diabetes.
The 4th Annual More for a T1D Cure Petition ran for 11 weeks and this year secured nearly double the amount of signatures than it attracted last year.
The document was developed by the Juvenile Diabetes Cure Alliance (JDCA) after they found that funding for research into finding a cure for the autoimmune condition slumped to an all-time low in 2015.
The JDCA is a privately funded T1D-focused non-profit that “aims to empower donors and prompt transparency in the major diabetes charities”.
Phil Shaw, General Manager for the JDCA, said: “Surpassing 200,000 signatures is a momentous accomplishment which clearly shows that people want their donations for type 1 diabetes to fund cure research over any other initiatives.
“There will be no cure for type 1 diabetes in our lifetime, unless we see a drastic shift in the amount of money going toward cure research.”
In 2017 it was reported that JDRF only spent 38% of its income on type 1 diabetes cure research and the American Diabetes Association spent just 4%.
Rachel Hodsdon signed the petition and explained why she pledged her support. She said: “I signed for my 3-year-old so, who was diagnosed last year. Diabetes is a horrible disease that affects the whole family. I am fighting for a cure, and I want it to happen sooner rather than later so my son can enjoy his life to the fullest.”
There is currently no known cure for type 1 diabetes, although research teams around the globe are running trials and experiments to understand type 1 diabetes and look for a possible cure. One of the problems that delays research is a lack of funding and some researchers spend years raising enough funds to run trials to test potential therapies.