During its 10th National Alzheimer's Congress, the President of CEAFA, Mariló Almagro, spoke of the need to recognise and address Alzheimer's disease and dementia as conditions in their own right, and called on the newly formed Spanish government to prioritise dementia in its policies, including ten key actions:
1. To become truly aware of the dimension of Alzheimer's disease and its consequences for the individual, the family and society.
2. To recognise the economic impact that dementia has on the country's economy in general and on people in particular.
3. To recognise the new profiles of people affected and to lay the foundations for understanding the specific needs they present throughout the evolution of the disease.
4. To set in motion as soon as possible the mechanisms that will enable a National Alzheimer's Plan to be drawn up, taking into account from the outset an adequate budget allocation in terms of quantity and quality.
5. Review current policies affecting people with Alzheimer's disease and objectively analyse the care and resources available.
6. Encourage contact and communication between the Ministries of Health and Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, in order to create a favourable breeding ground for progress towards social and health integration strategies.
7. Generate new channels of communication between the different ministries, so as to establish a cross-cutting approach to dementia, taking into account all those areas that are influenced or affected by its consequences.
8. Recognise dementia as its own, independent and specific entity, avoiding treating it within other groups with which it maintains a certain affinity, but from which it is separated by more elements or factors that mean that dementia must be considered in a specific way.
9. Initiate the processes that will allow the State to prepare itself to adequately welcome the arrival of the next specific treatments for Alzheimer's disease.
10. Greater openness towards entities linked to Alzheimer's, including those in the third sector, seeking greater communication and dialogue.
