Prime Minister urges Britain to take lead in research into dementia

DAVID Cameron will today call for Britain to take a worldwide lead in dementia research with a doubling of investment by government and the private sector.
Prime Minister David CameronPrime Minister David Cameron
Prime Minister David Cameron

The Prime Minister is hosting the G8 dementia summit in 
London which is expected to agree to a package of measures 
on international information-sharing and collaboration in research.

In a keynote address, he will stress the importance of achieving scientific breakthroughs in order to slow down, or even prevent, the onset of the condition.

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With the World Health Organisation forecasting victims will almost double every two decades, Mr Cameron will say he wants UK Government investment in dementia research to double from £66m in 2015 to £122m in 2025 – with similar increases from the commercial and charitable sectors.

A newly established UK Dementia Platform will allow different research teams across the country to share data in order to increase the scale and scope of their work, while the Medical Research Council is channelling £50m into dementia research over the next five years.

Mr Cameron will also emphasise the importance of the life sciences sector to the UK economy with pharmaceutical giant GSK announcing £200m of investment at manufacturing plants in Hertfordshire and Sussex.

Speaking ahead of the summit Mr Cameron said to beat dementia it needed “nations, business and scientists from all over the world working together as we did with cancer, and with HIV and Aids”.