New EU alzheimer's initiative focus on specific needs of women welcome

Posted by Bronwen Maher on January 18, 2011 at 10:47 AM

Nessa Childers MEP has welcomed the focus in new EU Initiative on Alzheimer's on the specific needs of women in a speech in the European Parliament in Strasbourg today. The Leinster MEP has completed work on the major new EU proposal to step up cooperation and support to improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care.
 
In her speech, she said - "Nearly ten million Europeans suffer today from dementia, with Alzheimer’s the most common form. One of those statistics was my own mother, who passed away last year.

"We should be very concerned though that only half of cases are estimated to have been diagnosed, that twice as many women as men in Europe are affected by the illness, and also the burden of care often falls on women who neglect their own health, quit jobs and risk poverty as a result of caring for an ill relative. We should be very concerned that with an ageing European population the number of suffers will double in next 20 years.
 
"Given that a five-year delay on the onset of Alzheimer's means 50% less prevalence rates, I welcome the focus on prevention and early detection by the European Commission. I welcome the focus on better research in Europe, especially as we know 85% of research today is without EU coordination.
 
“There are 44,000 people in Ireland  with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia and 50,000 carers who are impacted.
 
“The Minister for Health, Mary Harney informed me last August that the government will commence the preparation of a policy on dementia in 2011. Nothing less than a fully resourced national strategy will suffice.
 
“In light of our changing demographics we know that the numbers of people worldwide living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia is predicted to double every twenty years. The time for a simple policy response has long passed.
 
“A detailed, comprehensive and multi-agency national strategy is demanded to meet the needs of the current generation of those living with the disease, their carers and their families and to enable the State to plan properly for the future delivery of services and supports.”

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