At 1 pm on December 7, the meter of pledges Telethon shows 14.635.690 euros, against a little over 12 million a year earlier at the same time. The 33rd edition of this great charity fundraising marathon for research on genetic diseases will end on the night of Saturday to Sunday. Placed under the sign of the "new victories" hoped for in several diseases thanks to the gene therapy, this edition proposes 30 hours of live from a television set installed at the foot of the City of Sciences and Industry, in the park of Villette in Paris.
Among the highlights on Saturday night: the broadcast of the vertiginous crossing made on November 22 by Nathan Paulin, world champion slackline, on a thread between two towers of the Defense. On France 2, the "Great Telethon Festival" will also offer testimonials, music and surprises, as well as an auction of objects by artists, under the guidance of the animators Sophie Davant and Nagui.
"The dream turns into reality"
"We are experiencing an exceptional period, simply historic with today results that we have dreamed so long.The dream turns into reality: our first great scientific victories finally bring names of drugs" hailed in a said Laurence Tiennot-Herment, president of the AFM-Telethon, adding that "the path" was "not finished."
The transport strike and the mobilization against the pension reform has not affected the events planned everywhere in France, only one has been canceled so far according to the organization, the "March of rare diseases", which should have taken place on Saturday. Paris with Jean-Paul Rouve, the godfather of this edition.
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A renewed mobilization hoped for
The French Association against myopathies (AFM), which organizes the event, hopes this year a renewed mobilization, after a 2018 edition disturbed by the movements of "yellow vests". Pledges had reached only 69.3 million euros after the weekend of appeal to the generosity of the French, against 75.6 million euros the previous year. The final count announced in March, however, reached 85.8 million, still down slightly from the more than 89 million harvested in 2017.
Gifts, tax-deductible at 66%, can be made on the website www.telethon.fr or by phone at 36.37.