DoH: Dementia must be brought out of shadows
Monday, 06 Aug 2007 13:43
The government is determined to bring dementia "out of the shadows", according to the health minister Ivan Lewis.
At present he believes the current system for dementia care is failing "too many dementia sufferers and their carers".
As such a new strategy is to be developed to improve the standard of care, with advice from key health campaigners and organisations.
About 600,000 people in England have dementia but it is feared this figure could double in the next 30 years.
"The scale of our ambition must now meet the scale of the challenge as demographic realities mean dementia will impact on an increasing number of families in our society," Mr Lewis said.
"We need to minimise the shame and fear associated with dementia so that people and their relatives feel able to seek support at the earliest possible stage in the knowledge they will get expert help and be treated with dignity and respect.
"By concentrating on improving awareness, diagnosis and managing the disease we will help transform the lives of those with dementia by improving their quality of life."