The NY Times didn’t cover it; neither did the Washington Post or the Wall Street Journal. But the BBC made a big deal of the G8 “dementia summit,” hosted by the UK just a month ago. Representatives from the research world, the pharmaceutical industry, and the Organization of Economic Development, along with government health leaders, met to discuss what to do about Dementia.
Almost all the members of the G8 took the conference seriously: the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia each sent their top health representative. The US didn’t send the Secretary of Health and Human Services or an assistant secretary. The US sent the “acting assistant secretary for planning and evaluation” in the Department of Health and Human Services. This says it all: the US didn’t regard this conference as a priority.
What is Dementia?
- It is an umbrella term that describes about 100 diseases in which brain cells die on a huge scale.
- All damage memory, language, mental agility, understanding and judgement.
- Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form, affecting 62% of those living with dementia.
- It gets worse with time and eventually people are left completely dependent on carers.
- It is incurable
Dementia across the Globe
Reference:
Murriel Gillick, “The Latest War”,
http://blog.drmurielgillick.com/2014/01/the-latest-war.html