Born in Bradford a ground-breaking project designed to improve the health of children- both now and in the future.
Bradford has a growing population and is currently the fifth largest metropolitan district in the UK. However we have high levels of illness and disease, higher than the national average. In the short time it takes you to read these sentences another Bradford child is being treated for ill-health. Sometimes the solution is found. Sometimes it is not.
The project will track the lives of around 10,000 babies born in the city over the next three years from pregnancy, through childhood, until they become adults. Researchers will look at each child in relation to their genes, diet, lifestyle, schooling, neighbourhood and upbringing to help understand the causes of childhood illness and adult disease.
The study will also follow parents and grandparents as well as the child enabling doctors to explore the causes of conditions like, heart disease, diabetes and cancer. It will equip doctors with the vital information needed to learn more about why some children fall ill, while others do not.
Mothers and fathers-to-be who attend Bradford Royal Infirmary will be invited to take part in the project from November 2006.
Bradford is a city rich in cultural diversity and the project will be the first of its kind to research the impact of ethnicity on later health and educational development. The study could provide the key not only to improving the health of our city, but the health of others around the country and indeed across the world.
Everyone in the city has a role to play in this project. With your support and that of others in the community, it will form one of the world’s biggest studies into why children fall ill.
David Richardson, Chairman of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said ‘The study provides a unique opportunity to involve local communities and get the whole of Bradford involved in ground-breaking medical research. Our city provides a unique backdrop for conducting research that will provide findings that will benefit the health and well being of everyone for generations to come.’
Born in Bradford is being co-ordinated by a range of organisations. This partnership involves doctors and nurses from Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital, GPs and local health centres and academics from the universities of Bradford and Leeds Bradford Council, Bradford Vision and Bradford Health and Equality Action Team and the Telegraph & Argus are also key supporters. Born in Bradford is fortunate that Imran Khan, the international cricket star and Chancellor of the University of Bradford is one of its patrons.
The Born in Bradford study will cost £3 million and has already attracted half a million of funding from the Department of Health and the EU. As Lord Mayor, I would like to encourage everybody in the district to support Born in Bradford and help us to raise further funds which will enable this research to take place and provide a lasting legacy for the health of the people of Bradford.’
