Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease has been acknowledged as a European priority by the Council of the European Union. At its meeting of 26 September, the Competitiveness Council adopted conclusions on a “common commitment by the Member States to combat neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s”.
In its conclusions, the Council recognises that:
- Neurodegenerative diseases, and, in particular Alzheimer’s disease, pose challenges and that the “stakes are significant both in terms of human suffering and the social and health burden, and on the grounds of the complexity of preventive or curative responses to such diseases”
- There is a need to better understand, detect, prevent and combat the basic mechanisms which trigger neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s disease
- Neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s disease, are now a major challenge for European societies and therefore a need to strengthen cooperation and coordination of research efforts, financial investment and mobility of researchers exists
- Community initiatives exist. These should be continued with updates provided by the Commission