More than 50,000 people have signed a petition to ask the UK government to double its funding for dementia research and keep the promises it made two years ago.
Boris Johnson initially said there would be £160 million invested into the sector in the 2019 Conservative manifesto, but there has been a lack of movement in this area since.
This has spurred the Alzheimer’s Research UK charity to launch the petition, calling on Number Ten to help fund possible treatments for dementia.
The pandemic has been particularly hard for those with the disease, with a quarter of COVID-related deaths coming from this group.
The charity feels the sector has been neglected in recent years with David Thomas, head of policy at Alzheimer’s Research UK, saying the funding is the best chance of curing the condition.
“Dementia research is an area of huge need,” he said. “There are a huge number of people affected by it and with an aging population that will only increase.
“There are currently no treatments in the UK for the disease so we think research is vitally important to tackling that.
“We’ve seen an historic underfunding for dementia research. When the Conservatives announced their manifesto and made a commitment to double dementia research funding we thought that would be a great step forward.”
An Alzheimer’s Research UK supporter has also made a personal plea with the government to change this.
Olive Munro lives with vascular dementia and this week she submitted a letter to the Prime Minister asking him to make sure future generations do not suffer the same fate as her.
“She supports our campaign,” David said. “Her letter set out the impact that her diagnosis has had on her life and ultimately she wants to ensure that her children and grandchildren don’t have to go through a similar terrible situation.”
“I think it’s a really powerful message Mrs Munro has sent.”
The pandemic has been a big player in regards to this underfunding, but its impact on those with dementia has only heightened these concerns.
As well as this a lack of finances have meant that a number of researchers across all sectors have been lost, only making the situation worse.
This is why the charity has chosen to call on the government now. With the crisis in its latter stages Alzheimer’s Research UK wants to see a similar success that has come about from the vaccination programme.
“We understand that COVID has played its part,” David said. “It has had a significant impact on government priorities and we’re very sensitive to the fact that since the promises were made we have been in this crisis.
“But with the pandemic moving into a different stage and the vaccine programme being such a big success, now feels like the right time to meet that commitment.
“COVID has had a devastating impact on people living with dementia, so we think the pandemic has made this more urgent not less urgent.”
There is support across parliament for this investment, with over 100 MPs across all major parties supporting the move.
The petition has also been signed by some famous names, including Dame Judi Dench, Julie Walters, Stephen Fry and Dame Harriet Walter.
If it were to progress and the government were to double dementia funding then it would have a profound impact on the sector.
“Ultimately what we hope that funding will lead to is new treatments in this space that will ultimately stop the progression of the disease, which we haven’t got at the moment.
“We also hope it will lead to improvements in detection and diagnosis of the disease as that is really important.
“One particular thing we think the additional funding could do is ensure that we don’t lose a generation of researchers and that we keep and expand that talent, because that’s the people who will be responsible for delivering those life changing treatments.”
Away from the UK there has been some progress in this area.
In America the first dementia treatment in over 20 years was approved recently, which is a landmark move.
David is hoping this can send a clear message to the UK government that progress for this really is possible.
Many in the research industry are hoping this will lead to the approval of further treatments, as well as more investment from big pharmaceutical companies.
There is certainly the appetite for these changes, as Alzheimer’s Research UK has shown, but it is now in the government’s hands to act upon this.
“We have over 50,000 people who have signed the petition and we are well aware that behind each one is a story around the impact dementia has had on them,” he said.
