Leading organisations in Spain working in the field of Alzheimer's and the elderly have joined forces in the manifesto Commitment to a future without Alzheimer's so that the fight against this disease becomes a priority in public policies and the necessary efforts are made to have the tools to prevent and cure this pathology.Recent experience has shown us that scientific knowledge is essential to finding solutions, but dementia has been and still is a disease forgotten in the budgets allocated to promoting research.", the document states.

Through #CommitmentAlzheimer, the signatory entities –65yMás, ACE Alzheimer Center, Alzheimer Spain, CEAFA, CITA Alzheimer Foundation, Cien Foundation, Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Pilares Foundation, HelpAge, Matia Fundazioa, Mayores UDP and the Spanish Society of Neurology– undertake to disseminate the impact of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, to work to place them among political priorities and to raise the social status of those affected and their caregivers. At the same time, they call for decisive and urgent action to achieve a future free of this disease. “The time has come to face Alzheimer's”, they assure in the document.

A pandemic that needs to be a political priority

The main demands to public administrations that the signatory entities of the Commitment to a future without Alzheimer's are:

• Recognizing Alzheimer's disease and dementia as a structural pandemic which will cause the collapse of health and care systems, with an unaffordable economic and social cost, if solutions are not developed to combat them.
• Placing these pathologies among the highest policy priorities science and innovation, health, social and economic, including them specifically and with budgetary allocation in the initiatives being developed in these areas.
• Allocate the equivalent of 11% of the annual cost of Alzheimer's disease to finance their research and promote the transfer of knowledge for practical application.
• Urgently review, budget and implement the policies contained in the Comprehensive Alzheimer's Plan and other dementias 2019-2023 and deploy the National Health System's Strategy for Neurodegenerative Diseases.

With this manifesto, the signatory entities remember that Alzheimer's and dementia can only be stopped “with the commitment of the whole society and with the leadership of public administrations, which must act decisively and urgently.”

More than one million people affected in Spain

Currently, Alzheimer's and dementia are one of the main causes of mortality, disability and dependency.¹In Spain alone, it is estimated that they affect around 1.2 million people.², one in 10 people over 65 years old and a third of those over 85³, a figure that exceeds 4.8 million people when considering the family as an involved party. Its costs reach 60 million euros per day in our country.⁴, assumed in an 87% by the families themselves⁵. Likewise, along with those affected, there are the caregivers, who make up a reality that is hardly visible and that does not have the attention it needs.

“In a few years, the economic and social costs will be unaffordable, both for families and for the health and care system, which is why Alzheimer's is one of the diseases that most worries Spaniards of all ages.”, indicates the manifesto, which also warns of an exponential increase in the disease worldwide. “CWith life expectancy increasing, if an effective treatment is not found to modify its course, the number of cases worldwide could triple by 2050.”, they say.

The claims set out in the Commitment to a future without Alzheimer's They are part of the Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021-2030 declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) with the aim of promoting concerted action to improve the quality of life of older people.We need to invest resources and efforts to prevent the devastating consequences of the Alzheimer's pandemic on the economy, society and to promote the well-being of families around the world. We live longer, but we must aspire to live better.”.

Read our commitment

¹ Leading causes of death and disability worldwide. WHO (2020)

² Data from the Spanish Alzheimer's Confederation (CEAFA)

3 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures. Alzheimer's Association (2017)

⁴ Data from the Spanish Alzheimer's Confederation (CEAFA)

⁵ Assessing the socioeconomic impact of Alzheimer's Disease in Western Europe and Canada. The Economist (2017)

⁶ Prospective one-year cost-of-illness cohort study in patients with Dementia of Alzheimer's disease type in Spain: the ECO study. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (2010)