A number of constituents have contacted me about the issue of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Alzheimer’s and dementia have a devastating impact on the lives of so many families in this country. With 900,000 people currently living with dementia in the UK, projected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040, research is crucial to understanding the condition and improving the quality of life for those affected and their families.
Over 14 years, the last Government was committed to increasing research funding, improving dementia diagnosis rates and delivering better outcomes for people with dementia. In January 2024, £50 million of new funding was announced to help accelerate the development of new treatments and allow people with dementia to take part in early phase clinical trials. This new funding was designed to build on launch of the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission in 2022.
I warmly welcome the approval of a new medication, lecanemab, for adult patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. This is the first treatment to be licensed in this country that shows some evidence of slowing down the decline in memory and thinking skills of people living with early Alzheimer’s disease. While patients are currently unable to access lecanemab through the NHS, I recognise that this new treatment marks an important step towards a more hopeful future.
It is clear that there is more work to be done to find new treatments, help patients to access them in the NHS and improve diagnosis rates. I hope the new Government builds on progress made in recent years to improve outcomes for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
