Did you know that at least one child in every classroom carries the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis?

Even though one in 25 Canadians is a carrier of the gene, most people don’t know much about cystic fibrosis (CF). CF is the most common fatal inherited disease affecting Canadian children and young adults. In the lungs where the effects of the disease are most devastating, CF causes increasingly severe respiratory problems. In the digestive tract, CF often results in extreme difficulty in absorbing adequate nutrition from food.

During the month of May, the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF) and its partners make a special effort to generate awareness and support for the CF cause. While volunteers from 52 Foundation chapters will organize activities in communities across the country throughout the month, two longstanding Foundation partners have designated specific days to host Canada-wide events.

May 3 - National Kin-CF Day
On Saturday, May 3, members of the Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs, who have raised over $31 million for CF since 1964, are organizing community-based fundraising events to launch National Kin-CF Day. This is the first time in the 39-year partnership with the Foundation that Kin from across Canada will join together on a specific day to support the CF cause.

May 25 - Zellers Family Walk for CF
On Sunday, May 25, in over 74 communities, CF supporters will join Zellers associates in the annual Zellers Family Walk for CF. The Zellers-CCFF partnership has generated over $20 million in cumulative contributions to the CCFF, since 1985.

In 1960, when the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was established, CF was considered a children’s disease. Thanks to the generous support of donors and partners, the CCFF continues to fund cutting-edge research, and the development of new treatments, with the ultimate goal of finding a cure or control for CF. Progress in research and improved treatments, such as successful double lung transplants, have lead to an increase in the median age of survival of young Canadians with CF; from four years in 1960 to over 35 years today.

Young Canadians with cystic fibrosis are living longer, healthier lives. Although as yet there is no cure for CF, doctors and scientists are confident that a breakthrough is just around the corner.

“I believe that cystic fibrosis will be cured, or effectively controlled, in my lifetime,” said Dr. Neil Sweezey, CF physician, and CCFF-funded researcher. “The pace of research into CF is almost dizzying, it’s so fast.”

The CCFF is one of the largest charitable funders of CF research in the world. Researchers funded by the CCFF discovered the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis in 1989, and continue to play a leading role in the worldwide race to develop new treatments for the disease.

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For more information on CF please contact Anne-Marie Flanagan
E-mail: aflanagan@cysticfibrosis.ca
Phone: 1-800-378-2233 ext. 290
Web: www.cysticfibrosis.ca

To arrange interviews with people living with CF or to find out about the Zellers Walks taking place across Canada, please contact Danni Woods,
E-mail:dwoods@harbingerideas.com
Phone: 1-877-960-5100 ext. 240