Funding for Research into Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH)

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) takes the lives of newborn babies all too often. CDH is a birth defect that can affect any unborn child and requires additional ante-natal care plus intensive care and treatment of the affected newborn. There is no known cause or prevention and treatment remains medically challenging and costly. The babies that survive may endure ongoing medical problems ranging from asthma and feeding problems to chronic lung and digestive problems, developmental delays/issues and oxygen dependancy. We want the Government to provide funding to enable well designed research into the cause of CDH with a view to finding the prevention and better treatment of the condition, resulting in saving lives and potentially saving costs to the NHS long term.

As this e-petition has received more than 10 000 signatures, the relevant Government department have provided the following response:

The Government recognises the distress caused by congenital diaphragmatic hernia and appreciates the efforts that are being made to raise awareness of this condition.

With regard to the specific funding of research into the cause of CDH, both the Department of Health’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) welcome applications for support to research into any aspect of human health and these are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the scientific quality of the proposals made.

The NIHR programmes support high quality research of relevance and in areas of high priority to patients and the NHS. Further information, including the scope of the programmes and the arrangements for making applications for support, is available on the NIHR website at www.nihr.ac.uk.

The MRC is one of the main agencies through which the Government supports medical and clinical research. The MRC is an independent body that receives its grant-in-aid from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Further information can be found on the MRC website at www.mrc.ac.uk.

The NIHR hosts the UK Clinical Trials Gateway website, www.ukctg.nihr.ac.uk, which provides patients, clinicians and the public with information about clinical trials.

The Gateway currently provides details of an ongoing trial at Great Ormond Street Hospital comparing open and keyhole surgery for newborn babies with congenital diaphragmatic hernia or oesophageal atresia with tracheo-oesophageal fistula.