1. Authority
The site of the AFM’s Internet team is : http://www.afm-france.org/afm-english_version/ewb_pages/m/mentions_legales.php
The AFM (French Muscular Dystrophy Association) is committed to the maintenance, updating and development of information notably linked to rare – particularly neuromuscular – diseases, research programmes, ongoing trials on these diseases and the income and expenditure of the Association.
All the information of a medical and scientific nature presented on our site http://www.afm-france.org has been selected by a team of specialist editors from reliable scientific publications.

2. Complementarity
The information disseminated on the AFM website is intended to reinforce rather than act as a substitute for the relations existing between you and your attending physician. It is always necessary to verify any medical and scientific information which you find on the Internet by sharing it with your attending physician or health professional.
The AFM advises precaution in the use of online medical and scientific information obtained from its www.afm-france.org site or from links listed on our site. In no case should information obtained on the Internet be used as a means of self-diagnosis or self-medication.

3. Confidentiality
Personal information concerning site readers (your identity if it is given, your e-mail address and medical data) is strictly confidential. No information is transmitted to an outside organisation.

4. Operational procedures
> Establishing the list of diseases
The neuromuscular diseases included in the www.afm-france.org french site are those which fall within the remit of AFM competence. Each disease is described by a name and synonyms. It is placed under the authority of a scientific editor who is a recognised expert and who validates the information given.

> Textual information on the diseases
Each neuromuscular disease is associated with a text summarising the main characteristics of the disease (symptoms, diagnosis, progression, therapeutic leads, scientific publications etc.) All the texts are dated and signed, and are updated whenever new relevant scientific facts are published. The texts are written in a language understandable by persons concerned by the disease and by any non-specialist healthcare professional.

> Attribution
The medical and scientific information on our site is always associated with a reference linked to the origin of the source, as well as the date the information was put on-line.
This information is placed under the editorial responsibility of members recognised for their particular expertise in the field of rare diseases, in particular neuromuscular diseases. All this publicly-accessible information has been previously validated by these experts.

> Specialist neuromuscular disease clinics – reference centres
In these centres patients can visit different specialists (rehabilitation specialist, neurologist, lung specialist, cardiologist, nutritionist, psychologist etc.) at the same time and in the same place. Thus they can benefit from a global patient management system that caters to their medical, social or psychological needs. Also, their medical and other details are updated regularly.

> Clinical trials and research programmes
These are identified by the Scientific Committee of the AFM.
The list of clinical trials financed by the AFM is updated once a year.

> Internet sites
Each disease is linked to other websites. Each site is evaluated by its relevance, coherence and credibility. The websites are listed with a commentary about the language used and a description of the type of information that can be found.

5. Justification
Any claims relative to the benefits or performance of a given treatment, product or commercial service will be accompanied by suitable and balanced evidence. Nevertheless, we encourage you always to share any information found on the Internet with a health professional and to consult a physician.

6. Professionalism
Please find a contact form on the following page
http://www.afm-france.org/ewb_pages/c/contact.php

7. Financial transparency
The AFM (French Muscular Dystrophy Association) depends on external financing and support.
Its accounts can be consulted on page http://www.afm-france.org/afm-english_version/ewb_pages/d/decouvrirafm_donsetressources_utilisationdons.php

8. Advertising and editorial policy
Our website does not accept or display any advertising.

9. Law governing this Internet site
The collection and dissemination of information is subject to the legislation in force in France : professional code of ethics, data protection law, intellectual property rights law and all other applicable laws and regulations. The AFM site has been approved by the CNIL (French Data Protection Authority).
10. Use of the contents of the www.afm-france.org site. Copyright
All the information (including graphic and website design) contained on the http://www.afm-france.org site is © AFM, property of the Association Française contre les Myopathies.
All the information, text and images can be used or distributed for non-commercial purposes on condition that this note of Copyright remains intact on each document or item of information, and that a link to the http://www.afm-france.org site is provided. Use of material on the http://www.afm-france.org site necessitates prior authorisation from the Association Française contre les Myopathies. This may be obtained by sending us an e-mail using our contact form :
http://www.afm-france.org/ewb_pages/c/contact.php
The contents of this site may not be used for commercial purposes. The reproduction of any content taken from a site remains the copyright of its author.

11. Disclaimer
The scientific and medical information provided by the Association Française  contre les Myopathies is for information purposes only and is in no way intended to be a substitute for  a medical consultation. If you are at all uncertain about your medical condition, it is important to consult a physician.