MP backs Terry Pratchett's call for more Alzheimer's research funding

1.48.52pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 23rd Apr 2008

Local Dunfermline and West Fife MP Willie Rennie has backed a House of Commons motion supporting the campaign by Terry Pratchett and the Alzheimer's Research Trust to urgently increase Government funding of Alzheimer's disease research.

The Early Day Motion (EDM) praises Terry Pratchett's $1million donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust (ART), and shows concern that research funding is so much lower than for other diseases, like cancer. The EDM has cross-party support.

Willie Rennie, the Liberal Democrat MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, said:

"Like Terry Pratchett, I'm deeply concerned about the underfunding of dementia research. There are over 700,000 people with dementia in the UK - nearly 3,000 of whom live in Fife - and the figures are rising, but only 2% of Medical Research Council funding is allocated to Alzheimer's. Great advances in our understanding of the disease and new approaches to treatment and prevention are being made here in the UK.

"Despite Terry's desire to 'kick a politician in the teeth', I'm supporting his campaign with the Alzheimer's Research Trust to ensure that funding for Alzheimer's increases significantly."

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

"I welcome Willie Rennie's support for dementia research by signing this motion. We are delighted that parliamentarians have chosen to support the campaign by Terry Pratchett and the Alzheimer's Research Trust to increase research funding for Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. 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. Terry Pratchett's $1 million 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 ART still has to turn down two out of every three grant applications."

Alzheimer's disease costs the UK more in care than cancer, stroke and heart disease combined but receives only a tenth of the Government research funding allocated to cancer. The EDM urges the Government to fund more research into the diagnosis, treatment and cure of Alzheimer's, which is set to affect twice as many people in the next 20 years as the population ages. It also supports the aims of the leading dementia research charity in the UK, the Alzheimer's Research Trust, which is dedicated to encouraging and funding cutting-edge UK research.