Her Majesty The Queen and the Duchess of Cornwall attended the 10th-anniversary celebrations of Camilla’s patronage, Medical Detection Dogs, at the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace this morning.
The 92-year-old Queen and 70-year-old Duchess watched a demonstration by the charity’s bio-detection dogs to showcase their ability to detect the odour of human disease.
Medical Detection Dogs is a charity at the forefront of medical research. In the UK, early detection rates of diseases such as cancer are the worst in Europe preventing many people from receiving earlier treatment and increased survival rates.
The charity aims to transform disease detection by harnessing the extraordinary smelling power of dogs to develop tests for a range of life-threatening conditions including cancer.
In training trials, the dogs have proved to be 93 per cent reliable which is significantly higher tests which are currently used.
At the event on Wednesday, The Queen and Camilla watched a demonstration of the dogs at work before meeting four-legged friends and their handlers.
The Duchess of Cornwall has been patron of the charity since 2014 and has hosted a reception at St James’s Palace for the cause.
Last December she participated in the ICAP charity day to support charities including Medical Detection Dogs and in 2015 donated the proceeds of her limited-edition honey from her private home in Wiltshire to the charity.
The groundbreaking work of the Medical Detection Dogs is already saving and improving lives through their detection work.
The dogs are also crucial in helping people who are suffering from type one diabetes, who get no warning signs when a hypoglycemic or hyperglycaemic attack is about to occur. The dogs are trained to detect changes in their human’s blood sugar levels and alert them to take insulin or eat sugar.
To find out more about the work of Medical Detection Dogs or to make a donation, click here.
