Many thanks to those who contacted me about dementia care.
I believe that increasing public awareness and understanding of dementia among the wider public is vital to ensure that people are supported to live well with the condition.
Research is crucial to understanding and tackling dementia and I was proud to stand on a manifesto that committed to making finding a cure for dementia one of the Government's biggest collective priorities through the dementia moonshot. I am told that a new dementia strategy is expected to be published this year and will set out a bold approach to the challenges of dementia, including ambitions for research and funding.
I know that the Government is strongly committed to continuing to support research into dementia. At the 2021 Spending Review, £5 billion was committed to health-related research and development over the Spending Review period and I hope to see dementia research benefit from this funding. I understand that work is ongoing to finalise outcomes from the spending review and to identify ways to significantly boost research on dementia, which is encouraging. I was delighted by the Government's announcement in November of a £375 million investment, over the next five years, to improve understanding and treatment for a range of neurodegenerative diseases. This includes Fronto-temporal dementia, Parkinson’s disease dementia, Lewy Body dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, among others.
Dementia is a priority area for the National Institute for Health Research, with ambitious dementia research applications actively invited. A £9 million funding call was launched inviting proposals on early detection of dementia using digital technology, and a £3.6 million call to address important social care questions relating to dementia.
I will continue to monitor this issue. Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
