Investment Toward Treatment Breakthroughs Needed As Dementia Deaths Rise

Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity, is calling on government to increase funding into dementia research as new data shows an increase in deaths due to the condition.

Data released today by the Office for National Statistics showed that dementia accounted for one in eight deaths – or 12.7% of deaths – in England and Wales in 2017.

Alison Evans, Head of Policy and Impact at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:

“Dementia is the leading cause of death in the UK and more than 1 million people are expected to be living with the condition in just three years. The statistics released today are sadly unsurprising and confirm that the number of people with dementia will only continue to rise unless we find a treatment to slow, stop or prevent the condition.

“With increased investment in research more people than ever are surviving diseases like cancer and heart disease. But no one has yet survived dementia.

“We must see greater investment in dementia research to make breakthroughs possible. Government should lead this effort by committing to spend the equivalent of 1% of the annual cost of dementia on research.

“We are asking the public to help us encourage a Parliamentary debate about increasing investment in dementia research by signing our petition at alzres.uk/petition.”