The UK Sepsis Trust (UKST) and Lord Ashcroft have launched a campaign to raise funds for a public health awareness campaign on sepsis in adults.
Dr Ron Daniels BEM, CEO of the UK Sepsis Trust, comments: "Last year we launched a crucial awareness campaign to empower parents to recognise sepsis symptoms in their children. The posters and leaflets distributed across the UK are improving outcomes for the 25,000 children affected by the condition every year. But sepsis also claims 43,000 adult lives annually – that’s 98% of all sepsis deaths in the UK – so it’s essential that we take adult sepsis seriously, and increase public recognition of the key symptoms.
“That’s why we’re collaborating with Lord Ashcroft, a sepsis survivor himself, who will match every penny we raise up to £250,000. Together, we’re working to fund a public health awareness campaign for adults which will encourage people to seek medical attention early, and ‘Just Ask: could it be sepsis?’.
In a blog post published on his website, Lord Ashcroft said: "When I was taken ill in September 2015, I was one of the vast majority of people who is blissfully unaware both of the symptoms of sepsis or quite how many lives it claims every year. Since my close brush with death, I have done all that I can to raise awareness of the dangers of sepsis.
"I am asking you – both my friends and those who do not know me – to make a donation to the UK Sepsis Trust. I will match every £1 that is pledged with £1 of my own up to a total of £250,000. In short, if the public pledges £250,000, it will mean that – together with my own £250,000 – £500,000 will have been raised for this excellent charity."
People are being encouraged to donate via www.JustGiving.com/SepsisUnited and share the link on social media with the hashtag #ashcroft4sepsisunited
