The G8 Dementia Summit 2013 Declaration was released yesterday (11th December 2013) as world health ministers met in London to add weight to the increasing importance of the issue to world health. The declaration sets out the ambition to find a cure or a “disease modifying therapy” for dementia by 2025, however, as dementia is an umbrella term that describes the symptoms of a number of different diseases, there’s clearly the need for more detail in the post-declaration planning to deal with the scientific implications of the aim.
It’s possible to argue that the declaration is a little wooly around edges as it discusses the umbrella term instead of the myriad diseases that it covers, what’s clear is that the scientific study and medicinal research for the diseases are going to get a significant increase in attention and investment opportunities over the next ten to fifteen years to tackle the increase in cases as a result of a longer life expectancy.
While dementia diseases aren’t a normal part of the ageing process, the number of cases has risen significantly as people live longer, which has allowed more time for conditions to materialise. It currently affects 35 million people worldwide, and this has been predicted to be a figure that will nearly double every 20 years, which is why the hunt to find a cure or serious treatment is being redefined.
The symptoms of dementia, including severe memory loss, difficulty organising or planning activities, confusion, struggling to find the right words, difficulty with money and numbers, depression and mood changes, are severe and debilitating, so any positive steps by the government to eradicate the diseases behind it are positive. You’ve only got to read The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey to get a feel for how much of an impact a disease like Alzheimer’s can have.
One of the big challenges for the activity plan that will inevitably follow the declaration is the process of apportioning funding and focus between the many diseases that are covered by the term. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, so a cure for it would have the single biggest impact on the volumes, however, this factor will need to be offset against success variables for each disease to ensure that initiatives benefit the highest number of people in the most impactful manner.
Once the process to identify the disease prioritisation is in place to deliver the biggest impact for the most people with the resources available, there will be a big increase in funding for initiatives that investigate possible cures or significant treatments for the diseases. This will mean an increase in the size and number of initiatives to deliver on the ambitious aim.
This puts a lot of responsibility on both the government funding approval process and the wider scientific and medical community to ensure that the right projects get the support to deliver tangible results. The reality is that because dementia is an umbrella term, advances for one disease could have beneficial results in others, but they could also be single-disease treatments, so there are a lot of factors to take into account.
The declaration also contained a number of other implications for the scientific research of dementia diseases, and perhaps the most important is the improved status for sharing information and research. This will help to improve the potential results as the pool of data and findings could be used by all initiatives to speed up their delivery of tangible benefits. Equally, it puts a lot of responsibility on them to endeavour not to be guarded about their data due to financial motivators as innovations will only come in the relatively short time period if they work together.
The sharing of information, research and findings will also be backed up by an international collaborative approach to planning. This will mean that findings and breakthroughs can be used to create an international roadmap to delivering in the aim that has been set out for 2025.
The G8 Dementia Summit 2013 declaration also announced the plan to hold a series of high profile events in 2014 to focus on dementia, so if you’re a scientist or medical practitioner in the field it’s probably worth while keeping an eye out for these as they will be held in partnership with OECD, WHO, the European Commission and the EU Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Disease (JPND).
Following the events next year and to give the declaration planning a year to take hold, the G8 Health and Science Ministers will meet again to review progress in 2015.
Find out more about the Dementia Summit at the Department of Health’s section on The Dementia Challenge – https://dementiachallenge.dh.gov.uk/category/g8-dementia-summit/
The G8 Dementia Summit 2013 Declaration in full:
We, the G8 Health Ministers, met at the G8 Dementia Summit in London on 11 December 2013 to discuss how to shape an effective international response to dementia.
We acknowledge the on-going work occurring in our countries and globally to identify dementia as a major disease burden and to address issues related to ageing and mental health, including the World Health Organisation’s 2012 report, Dementia – A Public Health Priority. Building upon the significant research collaborations that exist between our countries and our multilateral partners will strengthen our efforts and allow us to better meet the challenges that dementia presents society.
We recognise that dementia is not a normal part of ageing. It is a condition that impairs the cognitive brain functions of memory, language, perception and thought and which interferes significantly with the ability to maintain the activities of daily living. We also acknowledge that dementia affects more than 35 million people worldwide, a number that is expected to almost double every 20 years.
We note the socio-economic impact of dementia globally. Seventy per cent of the estimated annual world-wide cost of US$604 billion is spent on informal, social and direct medical care. Yet nearly 60 per cent of people with dementia live in low and middle income countries so the economic challenge will intensify as life expectancy increases across the globe.
These costs are expected to increase significantly if therapies to prevent dementia and improve care and treatment are not developed and implemented. We recognise the need to strengthen efforts to stimulate and harness innovation and to catalyse investment at the global level.
Therefore, and in accordance with national, sub-national and local responsibilities, we commit ourselves to:
1. Call for greater innovation to improve the quality of life for people with dementia and their carers while reducing emotional and financial burden. We therefore welcome the UK’s decision to appoint a global Dementia Innovation Envoy to draw together international expertise to stimulate innovation and to co-ordinate international efforts to attract new sources of finance, including exploring the possibility of developing a private and philanthropic fund to support global dementia innovation;
2. The ambition to identify a cure or a disease-modifying therapy for dementia by 2025 and to increase collectively and significantly the amount of funding for dementia research to reach that goal. We will report biennially on expenditure on publicly funded national dementia research and related research infrastructure; and we will increase the number of people in dementia related research studies;
3. Work together, share information about the research we fund, and identify strategic priority areas, including sharing initiatives for big data, for collaboration and cooperation;
4. Develop a co-ordinated international research action plan which accounts for the current state of the science, identifies gaps and opportunities, and lays out a plan for working together to address them;
5. Encourage open access, where possible to all publicly funded dementia research and to make the research data and results available for further research as quickly as possible, while protecting the privacy of individuals and respecting the political and legal frameworks of the countries in which the research is conducted;
6. Take stock of our current national incentive structure for research, working in partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and consider what changes could be made to promote and accelerate discovery and research and its transformation into innovative and efficient care and services;
7. Hold a series of high-level fora throughout 2014, in partnership with the OECD, WHO, the European Commission, the EU Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Disease (JPND), and civil society, to develop cross sector partnerships and innovation, focused on:
• Social impact investment – UK-led
• New care and prevention models – Japan-led
• Academia-industry partnerships – Canada and France – co-led
8. Call upon the WHO and OECD to identify dementia as an increasing threat to global health and support countries to strengthen health and social care systems to improve care and services for people with dementia;
9. Call upon the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons to integrate the perspective of older people affected by dementia into their work;
10. Call upon all sectors to treat people affected by dementia with dignity and respect, and to enhance their contribution to dementia prevention, care and treatment where they can; and
11. Call upon civil society to continue and to enhance global efforts to reduce stigma, exclusion and fear.
12. We will meet again in the United States in February 2015 with other global experts, including WHO and OECD, to review the progress that has been made on our research agenda.
Signed by G8 Health and Science Ministers on 11 December 2013
