World news story

First Global Dementia event 19 June

The total estimated worldwide cost of dementia was around £400billion (US$604billion) in 2010 - 1% of the world’s gross domestic product.

From:
British Embassy Moscow
Published
16 June 2014
This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

This is likely to increase as the number of people diagnosed with dementia rises year on year. But more than the economic costs, dementia also carries a heavy human and social price

.At the 2013 G8 Dementia Summit the UK Prime Minster highlighted and agreed with G8 leaders a new international approach to dementia research, breaking down barriers to innovation and securing greater collaboration. The UK will be hosting the first event as part of the legacy programme in London on 19 June.

On the 19 June experts from around the world, including the World Health Organization, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), G7 Countries, global Alzheimer’s charities, pharmaceutical organisations and investors, will propose ways to increase investment in dementia.

Topics covered will include:

  • the visions and priorities of the World Dementia Envoy, Dr Dennis Gillings CBE

  • the global challenge of dementia

  • barriers to investment in dementia research

  • ways we can increase investment in innovation

  • financial mechanisms that can be harnessed to increase investment, including the potential for a global private and philanthropic fund for dementia

People across the world will be able to watch a live video stream of the event on 19 June, broadcast in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese http://dementiachallenge.dh.gov.uk/. The streaming will start at 8.30am (BST) and finish at 3.30pm. The UK Department of Health will also be running a live blog and photostream of the event, and live tweeting the highlights, using the #globaldementia Follow @DHgovuk and @AnnaHepburnDH on twitter for updates.

In addition to the London event there will be legacy events taking place on the following dates:

  • September 2014, a global legacy event jointly led by Canada and France, will be held in Ottowa, Canada, focussed on partnerships between academia and industry

  • November 2014, a global legacy event will be held in Tokyo, Japan, to explore new care and prevention models

  • February 2015, a further global event will be held in the United States, to review the progress that has been made on our research agenda

Published 16 June 2014