MP JOINS WITH AUTHOR TERRY PRATCHETT TO CALL FOR MORE ALZHEIMERS FUNDING

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 8th Mar 2008

Greg Mulholland, MP for Leeds North West and Liberal Democrat Older People's Health Spokesperson, has joined with bestselling author Terry Pratchett OBE and the Alzheimer's Research Trust to call for more funding into research into the disease and finding a cure.

Mr Pratchett was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and has donated $1 million dollars to research into the disease.

Commenting on the initiative Mr Mulholland said:

"Dementia affects hundreds of thousands of people in the UK, yet it is still fundamentally misunderstood and receives scant attention, despite the devastating impact that it can have on the lives of those who suffer from it.

"While great advances in our understanding of Alzheimer's disease and the new approaches to treatment and prevention are being made here in the UK, it is still nowhere near enough. We are at real risk of failing sufferers of Alzheimer's, particularly vulnerable older people, and leaving them marginalised and ignored.

"So I am very happy to back Terry, and the Alzheimer's Research Trust, in calling for an increase in funding so that we can promote research and understanding of this vitally important issue."

Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, added:

"I welcome Greg Mulholland taking the lead on trumpeting dementia research funding by sponsoring this motion. We are delighted that MPs have chosen to support the campaign by Terry Pratchett and the Alzheimer's Research Trust to increase research funding for dementia: a disease that 700,000 people in the UK live with. Research is the only way to beat this disease and help people like Terry - to prevent them losing their thinking skills and keep them doing the things they love.

"For every person with Alzheimer's, £11 is spent each year on UK research compared with £289 for each cancer patient, even though similar numbers of people are affected. The UK has many world-class scientists looking for new treatments and a possible cure for dementia. Terry Pratchett's $1million donation will fund promising UK research which hopes to find ways to slow down or halt the disease. We're scraping for every penny; the Trust still has to turn down two out of every three research projects."