Medical research
Every day our researchers are engaged in vital research to
improve our knowledge about the causes of heart disease, and how it
can be prevented and treated.
We campaign to help improve the facilities, support and
opportunities available to scientists and doctors who want to
contribute to heart research in the UK, and to represent their
interests – and those of the people they are trying to help –
to the UK governments.
Funding for medical research
We're the biggest non-commercial funder of
cardiovascular research in the UK, investing around £200 million
over the past three years, and are an active member of the
Association of Medical Research Charities.
UK governments provide support to help us make the most of our
investment, but we believe this needs strengthening.
We rely on your generous donations to fund this vital work, and
we want to spend as much of this as possible directly on research.
In fact, we only fund actual research - other costs, such
as maintaining university buildings, are paid for by the UK
governments. Within England, this is provided through the Charity
Research Support Fund.
This support has helped us to cover the indirect costs of our
research and ensure donations are being spent on actual research,
not university overheads.
Strengthening support from government
We have worked in partnership with universities and charities to
protect this support funding. In March 2011, the Westminster
Government announced that the funding within England will be
maintained at £198 million up to March 2012.
We're calling on the four UK governments to fully support our
vital research:
- UK governments should make a long term commitment to continue
the support funding
- Charity research support should help to provide a
level playing field for funders of research
Download our full
policy statement or the joint
statement between universities and charities, which we have
signed. For further information, contact us at policy@bhf.org.uk
