Ellee Seymour

MCIPR, PRESS CONSULTANT, JOURNALIST, POLITICAL AND PR BLOGGER.

October 12th, 2009

Conservative Health Minister pledges boost to Alzheimer’s funding

Shadow Health  Minister Stephen O’Brien’s words were music to the ears of Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, when he pledged increased proportional funding for dementia research.

He disclosed to the packed audience at a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party Conference that his mother-in-law suffered from the degenerative disease, and described how an earlier pledge to support this cause had not been seized on by Labour as a competitive strategy.

Ms Wood also told Mr O’Brien that she supported Conservative plans to increase the retirement age to 66 as it could help offset some of the symptoms of dementia. She is very vocal in her disappointment about Labour’s lack of support over the last 11 years. accusing them of having a “piecemeal” approach.

October 12th, 2009

The huge challenges for Alzheimer’s research

Alzheimer’s research is a subject very close to my heart, so I was pleased to see it was included as a topic at one of the fringe meetings at the Conservative Party conferences.

Prof Clive Ballard, Director of Research for the Alzheimer’s Society, describes in this video the huge challenges faced in securing future research funding, and bureaucracy in the UK which hinders progress.

We may need these drugs one day, or indeed our loved ones, and it makes no sense at all not to encourage the speedy development of future medicines for Alzheimer’s, as well as other diseases.

|