Cystic Fibrosis Canada

Cystic Fibrosis Canada

Cystic Fibrosis Canada is a national, nonprofit, voluntary health agency established 15 July 1960. Cystic fibrosis is a disorder that occurs when a child inherits 2 genes for the condition, one from each parent. An estimated one in 25 Canadians carries the defective "CF gene," and approximately one in 2000 children born in Canada has CF. Cystic Fibrosis Canada aids persons affected by cystic fibrosis (CF) by raising and allocating funds for medical research to find a cure for CF, promoting improved cure and treatment and increasing public awareness of cystic fibrosis.

Cystic Fibrosis Canada is the world's second largest funder of CF research; it allocated over $70.8 million to its medical and scientific research and professional training programs, as well as to CF clinics across Canada, between 1960 and 1994. Volunteers working through the foundation's 53 chapters located across Canada raise over 50% of its revenue. Significant support for CF research, since 1964, has also come from Kinsmen and Kinettes and from Shinerama, Canada's largest annual fund-raising event involving post-secondary students.

Canada's world leadership in CF treatment and research is reflected in improved life expectancy for those with CF: the median survival age of Canadians with CF has risen from 4 years of age in 1960 to 32.9 years in 1992. Today in Canada, CF is no longer exclusively a disease of childhood, as 33.4% of all persons with CF are 18 years of age or older.