Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Call To Triple UK Dementia Research Funding Gets International Backing
Alzheimer’s Research UK is calling on the UK government to adopt a bold new action plan to bring about a life-changing dementia treatment and improve the lives of people with the condition.
The charity is urging government to commit to spending just 1% of the annual cost of dementia on research into the condition by 2025 to transform research efforts. This call is in line with a global call to action made by Alzheimer’s Disease International.
Hilary Evans, Chief Executive for Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:
“Dementia is the health crisis of our time. With no way to stop or slow the diseases that cause it, no-one has yet survived dementia but we hope to change that.
“We’ve seen progress in recent years thanks to the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia launched in 2012, but without renewed government priority given to dementia, this momentum risks being lost. Dementia has been conspicuously absent from priorities set for the health system in recent months, and we cannot afford to let the condition slip off the radar at this critical time.
“We must see government ensure dementia is a leading health priority and begin to push for the progress seen in the treatment of diseases like cancer and HIV/AIDS over recent decades. Spending just 1% of the cost of dementia on research would make breakthroughs possible, and the thousands of families across the UK who are feeling the impact of dementia deserve nothing less.”
Paola Barbarino, Chief Executive Officer of Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), said:
“Dementia is the biggest killer in the UK, and the fifth biggest globally. There are 50 million people living with dementia worldwide, with someone developing dementia every 3 seconds.
“Dementia has been designated a global health priority by the World Health Organization but sadly not enough research is being undertaken. Our recent World Alzheimer Report, ‘The state of the art of dementia research: New frontiers’, clearly identifies the need for increased funding and skill in all areas of dementia research, including basic science, diagnosis, risk reduction, prevention, drug development and care research. The global ratio of new research publications on neurodegenerative disorders, compared to cancer, is an astonishing 1:12.
“During ADI’s statement to the World Health Assembly in May 2018, we called for Governments across the world to invest a minimum of 1% of the societal cost of dementia to funding research and we strongly support Alzheimer Research UK call for the UK government to commit to this.”
The report can be read in full at: alzheimersresearchuk.org/actionplan
