More than 6.4 million euros raised by José Carreras in the XVII televised Gala against leukaemia in Germany

Last night the José Carreras International Foundation against Leukaemia celebrated its 17th charity Gala which raised 6.4 million euros.  As with previous editions, this televised event took place in Leipzig and was produced by the german public television channel, ARD.

The Gala was led by José Carreras himself together with the famous german presenter Désirée Nosbusch.  Many artists, who are well known in Germany, collaborated in the event, such as Sarah Connor, Udo Jürgens, Rosenstolz, and many more.

The seventeen charity galas, which have been organized by José Carreras Foundation in Germany, have raised a total of 95.4 million euros to help in the global fight against leukaemia. The Foundation invests these funds into scientific research; the promotion of and search for voluntary donors of bone marrow and umbilical cord blood, for patients who do not have a compatible family member; the support for hospital infrastructures; and the provision of social services for patients and their families.

Thanks to the solidarity of the german public, more than a hundred research and social projects have been carried out to benefit the patients of leukaemia. For example, in Germany, the new transplant ward at the Hamburg Eppendorf Clinical Hospital, which  was recently inaugurated by José Carreras, was financed by the german José Carreras Foundation.  In Spain, several projects have been financed thanks to these funds, such as the Umbilical Cord Blood Bank in Barcelona and the Alloreactivity Laboratory established in the Catalan Institute of Oncology.  The funds raised by the Gala has also helped to finance research projects together with german and spanish centres.  Projects include the haematology services at the Vall d’Hebron Infant-Maternity Hospital and Clinic Hospital in Barcelona and the Pethema programme which sees more than 40 spanish centres collaborate with their german counterparts to improve treatment protocols.  One of the projects currently being carried out with the support of these funds is the advanced study by Clinic Hospital (Dr. Enric Carreras) and the University of Regensburg (Dr. Ernst Holler) of hematpoietic stem cell transplants.

Thank you very much!