Neurologists are key to the WHO global dementia strategy

Abstract

As reflected in your Editorial,1The Lancet NeurologyWHO takes up the baton on dementia.Lancet Neurol. 2015; 14: 455Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (9) Google Scholar the first WHO ministerial conference on Global Action Against Dementia was an important milestone. The neurological community will be one of the cornerstones of this global action, by contributing to early detection and diagnosis, and by leading research into diseases of the brain that cause dementia. For all these reasons, I was delighted to attend this conference and express the views of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) as its President, representing more than 45 000 neurologists worldwide. Neurological disorders, whether affecting the central or peripheral nervous system, are a major cause of death and disability. The main aim of the WFN is to assist in the provision of training for medical graduates in neurology, wherever required, so that the best possible service can be provided to patients with neurological diseases worldwide. However, the inclusion of neurological diseases in the United Nation's non-communicable diseases declaration of 2011 is only marginal, in spite of the burden caused by diseases of the nervous system.2United Nations General Assembly2011 high-level meeting on prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.http://www.un.org/en/ga/ncdmeeting2011/Google Scholar The WFN has worked closely with WHO to promote neurological practice and education. Regardless, in the WHO departmental structure, neurology still falls under the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, which seems to no longer be applicable. The creation of a WHO Department of Brain Health, in order to encompass all forms of neurodegenerative diseases, is overdue. The World Alzheimer Report3World Alzheimer Report 2013Journey of caring. An analysis of long-term care for dementia.https://www.alz.co.uk/research/WorldAlzheimerReport2013.pdfGoogle Scholar rightly emphasised the complexity and difficulties encountered when tackling dementia. Perhaps one missing element in its comprehensive recommendations was that governments should do their best to have neurologists involved early in the diagnosis and management of patients with dementia. At the WHO Global Action Against Dementia conference, the 2 days of deliberations were very informative, and many participants expressed the view that a pandemic is looming. However, in my opinion, the way forward is to improve our understanding of all neurodegenerative disorders, if we are to understand the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease and other causes of dementia. The G8's Global Action Against Dementia strategy4UK Department of HealthG8 dementia summit declaration.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/265869/2901668_G8_DementiaSummitDeclaration_acc.pdfGoogle Scholar is committed to identify a cure or a disease-modifying therapy by 2025, and the WHO and its partner organisations are now moving to confront this most threatening of neurological diseases. The role of neurologists alongside psychiatrists cannot be underestimated. Training of more young medical graduates in the specialty of neurology will create the workforce able to make accurate diagnoses and follow the correct pathways in recruiting individuals with neurodegenerative conditions to the clinical trials needed to achieve the ambition expressed in the G8 declaration. Time and direction are of the essence. I am the President of the World Federation of Neurology. I am the Chair of the Neurosciences Topic Advisory Group Neurosciences, ICD11 WHO. WHO takes up the baton on dementiaBuilding momentum on the commitments agreed during the G8 dementia summit, hosted by the UK Government in London in Dec, 2013, was never going to be an easy task, nor one that could be achieved by the eight nations alone. Therefore, the baton was duly passed into the international arena at the inaugural Ministerial Conference on Global Action Against Dementia, jointly convened by WHO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the UK Department of Health. At the conference, which was held at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 16–17, 80 countries called for action to address a tidal wave of new cases of dementia, with a projected global cost of US$1·2 trillion by 2050. Full-Text PDF