The dementia timebomb: People fear it MORE than cancer - yet it receives only a tenth of the funding
Dame Gill Morgan is chair of NHS Providers, representing hospital trusts
Says dementia research lags 25 years behind the progress made in cancer
Advances in drug development will be too late for 850,000 sufferers
People fear Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia more than cancer – yet dementia research receives only a tenth of the funding.
Dame Gill Morgan, chair of NHS Providers, said yesterday: ‘Dementia is, in my view, the cruellest disease.
‘It is a cruel disease because your family watch you declining, and they lose the person, but they keep the body.
English NHS trusts, said that advances currently being made in dementia drug development will come too late to help the 850,000 people currently living with the disease in Britain.
Speaking at the Royal Society in London, she said: ‘It is really important that we have research on drugs.
‘But those drugs are for tomorrow. What we need today is proper social care, better funding.
‘We need a cure tomorrow – but not at the cost of care today.’
Dame Gill, who is also chair of the Alzheimer's Society, said that relatives of patients often carry the weight of caring for their family.
Dementia costs Britain £26billion a year – about £11billion of which is spent by individuals caring for their relatives.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...cer-receives-tenth-funding.html#ixzz3x3t6M5DO
Dame Gill Morgan is chair of NHS Providers, representing hospital trusts
Says dementia research lags 25 years behind the progress made in cancer
Advances in drug development will be too late for 850,000 sufferers
People fear Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia more than cancer – yet dementia research receives only a tenth of the funding.
Dame Gill Morgan, chair of NHS Providers, said yesterday: ‘Dementia is, in my view, the cruellest disease.
‘It is a cruel disease because your family watch you declining, and they lose the person, but they keep the body.
English NHS trusts, said that advances currently being made in dementia drug development will come too late to help the 850,000 people currently living with the disease in Britain.
Speaking at the Royal Society in London, she said: ‘It is really important that we have research on drugs.
‘But those drugs are for tomorrow. What we need today is proper social care, better funding.
‘We need a cure tomorrow – but not at the cost of care today.’
Dame Gill, who is also chair of the Alzheimer's Society, said that relatives of patients often carry the weight of caring for their family.
Dementia costs Britain £26billion a year – about £11billion of which is spent by individuals caring for their relatives.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...cer-receives-tenth-funding.html#ixzz3x3t6M5DO