On 15 October, the Confederación Española de Alzheimer y otras Demencias (CEAFA) presented the ‘Pacto por el Recuerdo’. In this document, CEAFA makes an urgent call to action to the Spanish health and political authorities to adopt immediate measures to make progress in the fight against Alzheimer's disease (AD). In the ‘Pacto por el Recuerdo’, CEAFA calls for the creation of an official census of people with AD, to facilitate access to early diagnosis, and guarantee equal access to care, pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments. These demands are presented as essential responses to improve the quality of life of the more than 1.2 million people living with AD in Spain, as well as the 5 million informal carers and supporters who look after them.
At the launch event of the ‘Pacto por el Recuerdo’, Mariló Almagro, President of CEAFA, stressed the importance of society understanding the scale of the problem: "Alzheimer's is everyone's business, those diagnosed, families, those who have the disease without even knowing it and, therefore, society as a whole". One of the aspects highlighted in the document is the need to move towards an early diagnosis of the disease, overcoming the challenges that make this difficult, i.e. lack of specialised centres and insufficient time and resources for doctors in primary care practices. Together with an official census and an early diagnosis of the disease, equal access to the best treatments is another key point of the ‘Pacto por el Recuerdo’.
People with AD and their families should be provided with equitable and flexible access to pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments from the very early stages of the disease. Equal access to care and the importance of family carers were also emphasised in the document and during the launch event. Currently, the unpaid work performed by the informal carers and supporters could represent up to 3% of the national Gross Domestic Product. This highlights the importance of recognising and supporting informal carers not only financially, but with services and resources to alleviate the burden they face on a daily basis. With the right tools, it is possible to improve the quality of life of those affected by AD. However, for this to be possible, CEAFA stresses that it is essential that measures such as those proposed in the ‘Pacto por el Recuerdo’ are implemented.
