Paris, 04/11/2008 (Agence Europe) - The French Presidency of the EU Council organised a conference in Paris on Thursday 30 and Friday 31 October on combating Alzheimer's disease and related diseases. The conference was attended by representatives from related associations, health professionals, researchers and politicians.
Henry Brodaty, Professor in psycho-geriatrics at the University of New South Wales in Australia, said neurodegenerative diseases would be a feature of the 21st century. “Unless we prepare a change in the current situation, we shall be faced with enormous problems”, warned Marc Wortmann, Executive Director for Alzheimer's Disease International, who felt, moreover, that Europe was the part of the world where the cost of Alzheimer's disease was the highest ($57.3 billion in the EU-27, for an overall cost of $315 billion).
Divided into three workshops, participants highlighted different possibilities. They mainly pointed to the shortfall in organisation not only from the point of view of carers but also for the patients. They also stressed the need to train carers and took a stance in favour of early diagnosis of the disease. Furthermore, some expressed the hope of seeing animal models developed to facilitate study of the disease. All participants, whatever their role in combating the disease, expressed the need to fight Alzheimer's in particular by promoting research. They referred to the efforts made to combat cancer. “Everyone agrees we have to agree. But this does not prevent disagreement. Germany, for example, is opposed to adopting healthcare quality criteria by all European countries”, one participant commented. Another controversial subject is the inclusion of Alzheimer's disease in the European pact on mental health and wellbeing adopted in 2008, and more broadly the association of the fight against Alzheimer's with that of psychiatric diseases by the European Commission. “Alzheimer's is not a psychiatric illness!”, French MEP Françoise Grossetête, who presides the European Alliance against Alzheimer's, said indignantly. “It would be seriously wrong for the European Commission to associate neurodegenerative diseases with mental illness”, she said before going on to recommend a “more formal framework for European reference networks”. “Of course, these illnesses are different as we are fully aware”, replied Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, who went on to add: “But there are aspects in common. For example, when we speak of patient care, we cannot make a difference between these two areas”.
Alzheimer's disease, one of the priorities of the French EU Presidency, had already been covered during the informal meeting of European competitiveness ministers, in Versailles on 17 July.
Two months later, on 26 September, the Competitiveness Council adopted symbolic conclusions relating to a common commitment by member states against neurodegenerative diseases (EUROPE 9746). Maria Larsson, Swedish Minister for the Elderly and Public Health, announced on behalf of the future Swedish EU Presidency (2nd half 2009) that a further Alzheimer's conference would be organised in September 2009. (L.B.S./transl.jl)