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Dementia tops agenda of G8 forum
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G8 health ministers met in London yesterday to tackle what experts warn is a dementia time-bomb, with cases set to soar as the world’s population ages.
Ministers from the Group of Eight wealthy nations gathered for their first-ever conference on the incurable condition, which afflicts some 44 million people worldwide — most of them elderly.
They hope that by forming a common front, the summit will prove the turning point in tackling the disease.
Sufferers of dementia, of which Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form, often end up needing full-time care as it attacks their memory and other brain functions.
Alzheimer’s Disease International warned in a report last week that the number of sufferers is set to surge, trebling to 135 million by 2050, as life expectancy rises around the globe.
Dealing with dementia cost the world an estimated US$604 billion in 2010, according to the World Health Organization.
Ahead of the conference, British Prime Minister David Cameron called for a worldwide boost in dementia research investment, with Britain set to double its funding to 122 million pounds (US$200 million) by 2022.
The British premier is seeking similar pledges from fellow G8 nations Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US, and from pharmaceutical companies and charities attending the summit.
Spending on research into cancer dwarfs that on dementia.
Cameron said that to beat dementia, governments would have to “work globally, with nations, business and scientists from all over the world working together as we did with cancer, and with HIV and AIDS”.
University experts, patient networks and representatives from BT, Intel, Nike and GE Healthcare took part in the discussions.
The European Union’s health commissioner Tonio Borg announced a 1.2 billion euro (US$1.65 billion) budget for health research in 2014-2015, including dementia and neurodegenerative diseases.
Dementia causes mood changes and problems with reasoning and communication as well as memory loss. Most types grow progressively worse and cannot be cured.
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