Britain is ignoring its dementia crisis, a recent study conducted by Oxford University’s Health Economics Research centre suggests.
The study found that each dementia patient costs the economy £27,647 per year; five times more than a cancer patient and eight times more than a heart disease sufferer. Yet only £50m is spent per year on research, compared with heart disease at over £150m and cancer at £590m.
The study has also shown that the number of people with dementia, at 822,000, is 17% higher than previously estimated and will increase to one million before 2025. It is expected that one in three people over 65 will contract dementia before they die.
Rebecca Wood, the Alzheimer’s Research Trust Chief Executive, said, “If we spend a more proportionate sum on dementia research we could unleash the full potential of our scientists in their race for a cure.”
