Following on from the successful development of their Research & Development Blueprint for COVID-19, the World Health Organisation are now working on the creation of a Dementia Research Blueprint. The aim of this Blueprint is to accelerate global dementia research and innovation and to make research more productive and efficient, with a focus on equity, diversity, and inclusiveness in all stages from generation to implementation.
On 19 & 20 May, the WHO organised a virtual workshop and consultation meeting for the development of the Dementia Research Blueprint. Jean Georges and Angela Bradshaw represented Alzheimer Europe at the meetings. Involving a variety of stakeholders from research, industry, NGOs and patient organisations, the first day kicked off with welcome remarks from Ren Minghui (Assistant Director-General, Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases, WHO), Soumya Swaminathan (Chief Scientist, WHO), Devora Kestel (Director, Mental Health & Substance Abuse unit, WHO) and Berrie Holtzhausen (Director of Alzheimer Dementia Namibia, living with dementia). Representatives from the Science division and Brain Health Unit of the WHO then provided an overview of how their Research Blueprint development process works, summarising recent progress on developing the Dementia Research Blueprint.
Highlighting recent findings from the WHO Global Dementia Observatory, Neerja Chowdhary and Rodrigo Cataldi (WHO) noted that dementia research investment and output currently lags far behind other non-communicable diseases. He presented the results of a recent WHO survey for the Blueprint, which collated responses from a diverse range of stakeholders and identified four areas of dementia research: 1) disease mechanisms, origins and models; 2) diagnosis, drug development and clinical trials; 3) brain health and risk reduction; 4) health and social care research. This was followed by a panel discussion where experts from a range of backgrounds identified their priorities for the Dementia Research Blueprint, which included expanding access to low and medium income countries (LMICs), greater global collaboration and training for health practitioners, and ensuring the involvement of people with dementia in research. The panel discussion included presentations from Henry Brodaty (University of New South Wales, Australia), George Vradenburg (Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer's Disease) and Roger Marple (dementia advocate, Canada) among others.
The four areas of dementia research identified by Neerja Chowdhary and Rodrigo Cataldi formed the basis of the consultation meeting on 20 May. Experts and representatives from industry, academia, NGOs and patient organisations participated in four working group consultations (one on each area) identifying gaps that need to be addressed and key enablers, also identifying future perspectives for each topic. The input from these working groups will help shape the final Dementia Research Blueprint, which will be launched in 2022.
