As at end of May 2024, we are truly delighted with the progress of our EU elections campaign so far. The European Parliament elections are a mere few days away, running from 6 to 9 June, and our work in the run-up to these elections, aiming to make dementia a priority issue for decision-makers at a European level, is proving to be a success. We have been campaigning on three fronts:
• The Helsinki Manifesto
• A public Call to Action
• The Dementia Pledge 2024.
The first two branches of the campaign will continue after the elections are over, up until our planned "Dementia Day" at the European Parliament, on 10 December 2024 (more to follow on this, later. Watch this space!). The Dementia Pledge 2024 campaign, however, is aimed at Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who are standing for re-election, as well as all MEP candidates. This will, therefore, end with the close of the June elections. Following these elections, we will re-establish the "European Alzheimer's Alliance", a multinational and cross-party group of MEPs with an interest in dementia and who support Alzheimer Europe's work and that of our national member(s) in their country. As at end of May, 195 MEPs and candidates have signed up to our Dementia Pledge.
You can see who has signed the Dementia Pledge 2024, here: https://bit.ly/DementiaPledge2024
You can download the Pledge form, here: https://bit.ly/DementiaPledge2024form
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 74 organisations, projects and entities including the following seven which endorsed it during the month of May:
• AFA Parla, Spain
• Alzheimerfonden, Sweden
• ARAD (Associazione Ricerca Assistenza Demenze) APS ETS, Italy
• Asociación de Familiares de personas con Alzheimer y otras demencias de Barcelona, Spain
• Federació d'Associacions de Familiars d'Alzheimer, Spain
• HOMEDEM project
• SPF Seniorerna, Spain.
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 attracted more than 6,600 signatories! You can sign the Call to Action, today, via our website: https://bit.ly/AECallToAction2024