I AM writing on behalf of the Katharine Dormandy Trust, a national charity whose aim is to eliminate the suffering of people with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders.

Haemophilia is an inherited life-long condition in which the blood fails to clot and so bleeding from injury or spontaneously can be life-threatening.

While external bleeding is a great concern, internal bleeding is the main problem, particularly into joints such as knees, ankles and elbows, causing crippling joint deformity, and other internal organs including the brain.

Haemophilia is also one of the most costly conditions to treat.

The lifetime cost to treat one person with severe haemophilia by means of transfusion is £5million.

Finding a cure would mean a significant saving to the NHS, which currently spends more than £80million a year on transfusion treatment alone for people with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders.

Since its creation, the KD Trust has invested in bleeding disorder research, and over the past 15 years the charity has supported gene therapy for haemophilia research projects.

These gene therapy projects have started to produce very promising results.

At the KD Trust we are convinced that the time, the target and the place are right for a final push to cure haemophilia.

That is why we have launched a £5million "Haemappeal' campaign, to focus further on gene therapy research, to bring forward a cure for this lifelong -- and extremely costly -- medical condition.

We would like to ask your readers to support our appeal, and would also like feedback from any of your readers who have haemophilia in their family -- or any other inherited bleeding disorder -- with their thoughts on gene therapy.

More details by telephoning 0207 431 8276.

Professor TED TUDDENHAM, Chairman Katharine Dormandy Trust, Royal Free Hospital, London NW3 2QG.