Government acts to fight Dementia
While the Conservatives were still in opposition I recall attending a Conservative meeting at which a very powerful and moving address on dementia was given by the author Terry Pratchett - who suffers from a form of dementia which does not prevent him writing books or making speeches but still has significant impacts on quality of life.
The coalition government has attempted to address this issue and David Cameron signalled a significant further effort today, when he announced that £300 million pounds of taxpayers' money will be committed to research into fighting dementia. He said that an international dementia institute will be established in England over the next five years in a bid to make the UK a world leader for research and medical trials.
Some 1.3 million NHS workers will also receive additional training in how to care for people with dementia. The Prime minister called dementia "one of the greatest challenges of our lifetime".
There are approximately 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK, with the number expected to hit a million within the next 10 years.
The government said a separate multimillion-pound fund will be launched within weeks to help establish an international investment scheme to discover new drugs and treatments that could slow the onset of dementia, or even deliver a cure, by 2025. It hopes the global fund will bring together investment from the private, public and philanthropic sectors under a single scheme to pay for research projects into the disease.
Faster assessments by GPs are also included in the prime minister's challenge on dementia 2020 plans.
David Cameron first launched a dementia challenge for England in March 2012, building on the previous government's national dementia strategy.
Today he visited High Wycombe to meet people with dementia and dementia friends – people who are able to spot signs of the illness and help sufferers - where he said:
"What today's announcement is about is a very simple but bold ambition, and that is to make the United Kingdom the best place on the planet in terms of researching into dementia, in terms of diagnosing people with dementia and then in terms of treating, helping and caring for them."
The coalition government has attempted to address this issue and David Cameron signalled a significant further effort today, when he announced that £300 million pounds of taxpayers' money will be committed to research into fighting dementia. He said that an international dementia institute will be established in England over the next five years in a bid to make the UK a world leader for research and medical trials.
Some 1.3 million NHS workers will also receive additional training in how to care for people with dementia. The Prime minister called dementia "one of the greatest challenges of our lifetime".
There are approximately 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK, with the number expected to hit a million within the next 10 years.
The government said a separate multimillion-pound fund will be launched within weeks to help establish an international investment scheme to discover new drugs and treatments that could slow the onset of dementia, or even deliver a cure, by 2025. It hopes the global fund will bring together investment from the private, public and philanthropic sectors under a single scheme to pay for research projects into the disease.
Faster assessments by GPs are also included in the prime minister's challenge on dementia 2020 plans.
David Cameron first launched a dementia challenge for England in March 2012, building on the previous government's national dementia strategy.
Today he visited High Wycombe to meet people with dementia and dementia friends – people who are able to spot signs of the illness and help sufferers - where he said:
"What today's announcement is about is a very simple but bold ambition, and that is to make the United Kingdom the best place on the planet in terms of researching into dementia, in terms of diagnosing people with dementia and then in terms of treating, helping and caring for them."
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