Helsinki Manifesto

2024

 

Ten years on from the Glasgow Declaration (2014), dementia has been deprioritised at a European level and in many European countries. This has taken place despite the growing number of people living with the condition and the continued lack of access to diagnosis, treatment and care, which have been identified as long-standing challenges in countries across Europe.

In response, at our Annual General Meeting on 16 October 2023, in Helsinki, Finland, our members adopted the “Helsinki Manifesto”, which outlines the current position of dementia across Europe and lays the foundation for Alzheimer Europe’s campaigning activities over the next five years (2024-2029), in the run up to the European Parliament elections and the next term of the European Commission.

The Helsinki Manifesto is divided into the following policy areas:

  • Health
  • Research
  • Disability and social rights
  • Support for informal carers.

Under each policy area, a brief rationale for action is outlined, followed by a number of specific demands for European and national decisions-makers, including:

  • Invest in improvements to support timely diagnosis, including access to imaging, biomarker testing and new treatment options
  • An increase in the funding allocated for dementia research which is proportionate to its societal cost, bringing the total funding to at least the level of other non-communicable diseases
  • The prioritisation of dementia in future health programmes with dedicated funding for projects and actions in line with other non-communicable diseases (e.g. cancer)
  • The development and implementation of a European Dementia Action Plan, to coordinate efforts and programmes across the domains of health, research and social affairs.

 

European and national organisations with a mutual interest in these policy areas are invited to endorse the Helsinki Manifesto, with organisations who have done so visible below. If your organisation would be interested in endorsing the Manifesto, please send an email to info@alzheimer-europe.org

To date, 83 European and national organisations have endorsed the Helsinki Manifesto

 

Accademia Scherma Milano, Italy 

Ace Alzheimer center, Barcelona

ADIS project

AFA Fuengirola, Mijas Costa, Spain

AFA PArla, Spain

 

Alzheimer Austria, Vienna, Austria
Alzheimer Bulgaria (Гражданско сдружение Алцхаймер България), Sofia, Bulgaria
Alzheimer Croatia (Hrvatska udruga za Alzheimerovu bolest), Zagreb, Croatia
Alzheimer Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
Alzheimer Liga Vlaanderen, Belgium
Alzheimer Nederland, Amersfoort, Netherlands
Alzheimer Polska, Warsaw, Poland
Alzheimer Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal
Alzheimer Schweiz Suisse Svizzera, Bern, Switzerland
Alzheimer Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Alzheimer Society of Finland (Muistiliitto), Helsinki, Finland
Alzheimer Guiden, Sweden 
Alzheimer Uniti Onlus, Rome, Italy
Alzheimer's Care Armenia, Yerevan, Armernia
Alzheimer's Disease International, London, England, UK
Alzheimer's Society, London, England, UK
Alzheimerforeningen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Alzheimerfonden, Sweden

AENMA - Centro de día terapéutico, Madrid, Spain

 

ARAD (Associazione Ricerca Assistenza Demenze)  APS ETS, Italy
Asociación Alzheimer Valencia, Spain
Asociación de Familiares de personas con Alzheimer y otras demencias de Barcelona
Association Luxembourg Alzheimer, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Baluchon France, France
BBMRI-ERIC
  
Česká alzheimerovská společnost (Czech Alzheimer Society), Prague, Czech Republic
Confederación  Andaluza de Alzheimer (ConFEAFA), Spain
Confederación Española de Alzheimer (CEAFA), Pamplona, Spain
COTEC - Council of Occupational
                Therapists for the European
                Countries, Germany
Croatian Association for Alzheimers's Disease and Old Age Psychiatry 
DEMEDARTS project
Demensförbundet, Stockholm, Sweden
Dementia Jersey, St Helier, Jersey
Dementia Lithuania (Demencija Lietuvoje), Vilnius, Lithuania
Demenz Selbsthilfe Austria, Vienna, Austria
Deutsche Alzheimer Gesellschaft e.V. Selbsthilfe Demenz, Berlin, Germany
European  Academy of Neurology, EAN
 eBRAIN-Health
Eurocarers, Brussels, Belgium
European Ageing Network, Prague, Czechia
European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA), Brussels, Belgium
European Institute of Women's Health (EIWH), Dublin, Ireland
 Federació d'Associacions de Familiars d'Alzheimer, Spain
Federazione Alzheimer Italia, Milan, Italy
Fondation Médéric Alzheimer (FMA), France
France Alzheimer & Maladies Apparentées, Paris, France
Fundación Alzheimer España (FAE), Madrid, Spain
Fundación de neurociencias, Spain 
HomeDem
International Psychogeriatric Association, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Ligue Nationale Alzheimer Liga, Brussels, Belgium
Malta Dementia Society, Msida, Malta
Medico e paziente, Italy
Multi-MeMo project
NEZABUTNI - Charitable Foundation, Kyiv, Ukraine
NGO Institute for Alzheimer’s disease and Neuroscience (IAN), Skopje, North Macedonia
NGO Living with Dementia (Elu Dementsusega), Tallinn, Estonia
Norwegian Health Association (Nasjonalforeningen for folkehelsen), Oslo, Norway
Obras Sociais Viseu, Portugal 
Panhellenic Federation of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders ( Πανελλήνια Ομοσπονδία Νόσου Alzheimer και Συναφών Διαταραχών), Thessaloniki, Greece
  Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Spain
Pattern-Cog
Polskie Stowarzyszenie Pomocy Osobom z Chorobą Alzheimera, Warsaw, Poland
PRIME (Prevention and Remediation of Insulin Multimorbidity in Europe) Consortium 
Radosny Dom Seniora (Poland)
Reimagining Dementia: A Creative Coalition for Justice
Serbian Society for Alzheimer Disease (SUAB), Belgrade, Serbia
Slovenská Alzheimerova spoločnost, Bratislava, Slovakia

Spomincica - Alzheimer Slovenija, Lubljana, Slovenia

Social Cluster Association, Budapest, Hungary
SPF Seniorerna, Spain
The Alzheimer Society of Ireland 
The Cyprus Alzheimer Association, Nicosia, Cyprus

 

Türkiye Alzheimer Derneği, Istanbul, Turkey

 

Women's Brain Project, Gunterhausen, Germany