In advance of the European Parliament elections between 6 and 9 June 2024, we are running our European Election Campaign 2024, aiming to make dementia a priority issue for decision-makers at a European level. The campaign highlights World Health Organization (WHO) figures which show that dementia is the third leading cause of mortality in Europe and the seventh globally, with a societal cost in Europe estimated to be EUR 392 billion in 2019. Additionally, we point out that by 2025, 9.1 million people will be living with dementia in the European Union, rising to 14.3 million in 2050. We are therefore pushing for the condition to be shown greater attention by European decision-makers.
Our campaign has three distinct elements aimed at different audiences, demanding dementia be prioritised as a policy issue:
The Helsinki Manifesto provides an outline of the current situation in relation to dementia across Europe, detailing specific demands for the European Commission Institutions and national governments. The Manifesto will be the basis of Alzheimer Europe’s campaign work in the coming years. European and national organisations are invited to endorse the Manifesto. So far, the Manifesto has attracted the support of 67 organisations, projects and entities including the following six which endorsed it during the month of April:
• Radosny Dom Seniora
• Pattern-Cog
• Multi-Memo
• Accademia Scherma Milano
• Medico e Paziente
We urge national and European organisations, projects and other groups wishing to endorse our Helsinki Manifesto to get in touch: info@alzheimer-europe.org or to find out more, via our website: https://bit.ly/AEHelsinkiManifesto
Our public Call to Action demands that European decision-makers prioritise dementia as a policy issue and implement the actions of the Helsinki Manifesto. We are delighted to have already got more than 4,400 signatories! The three countries with the most signatories are: Italy (2,732), Sweden (429), and Spain (301). You can sign the Call to Action, today, via our website: https://bit.ly/AECallToAction2024
The Dementia Pledge 2024 is a commitment which candidates standing for the European Parliament elections are invited to sign, pledging their support in prioritising dementia in the areas of health, research, disability policy and informal carers and pledging to join the European Alzheimer’s Alliance, upon election. All candidates standing in the European Parliament elections are encouraged to sign the pledge. As at 30 April 2024, 65 candidates have signed up to the Pledge. The Pledge campaign will run until 9 June 2024, when the European elections will conclude. The list of signatories currently signed up to the Dementia Pledge 2024 can be viewed here: https://bit.ly/DementiaPledge2024
