In an open letter to the Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, a coalition of leading scientists have criticised the Government’s underinvestment in dementia research amid warnings of “catastrophic” economic consequences.
Professor Simon Lovestone of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College, and 10 other dementia experts, issued a warning that: “The Government must greatly increase dementia research funding now, or the NHS will not survive the next 20 years.”
They said that the health service, in its current form, will be unsustainable unless there is significant investment, as dementia is expected to double within a generation. Dementia care currently costs the UK economy more than £17 billion, and will hit £35 billion within 20 years.
The UK’s leading dementia research charity, the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, warned of an impending “dementia crisis”. The charity’s chief executive, Rebecca Wood, said: “Care costs for dementia are much higher than those for cancer, yet a quarter of the Department of Health’s R&D budget is spent on cancer research, compared with just 3% on dementia. If underinvestment persists, the economic consequences arising from dementia care costs will be catastrophic.”
