Dame Judi Dench urges MPs to deliver on promise to double funding for dementia research

The One Show: Judi Dench recalls embarrassing Skype call

Health Secretary Matt Hancock promised to boost the budget by £83million a year if the Tories won last year’s general election. But a year on, no action has been taken. Dame Judi, 85, won an Oscar nomination as dementia-stricken novelist Iris Murdoch in a 2001 film. She said: “Having portrayed someone with Alzheimer’s, and having seen the impact of dementia on people around me, I’m sadly all too aware of how painful, cruel and unforgiving this condition can be.

“A promise was made by government to double its funding for dementia research, to help bring an end to the long and desperate wait for a new treatment.

“With that vow came hope for everyone affected by dementia. But that hope is fading while government fails to deliver the funding so greatly needed. We cannot let this commitment be forgotten.”

More than 850,000 people now live with the incurable illness. There have been no new drug treatments for 15 years.

Care costs are set to rise from £37.4billion to £94.1billion by 2040. Yet in 2016/17 dementia research received less than a third of the money dedicated to cancer. Dame Judi is backing Alzheimer’s Research UK which has demanded at least one per cent of national wealth is spent searching for a cure.

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That would see £320million ploughed into cutting-edge science by 2025, more than triple the current investment.

Mr Hancock, whose grandmother Pem Hills suffered with dementia, said: “I know from personal experience just how wonderful it would be if we could delay the onset of dementia because it would help so many families. And if we found a cure altogether it would be a huge stride forward for humanity. I am hopeful that can happen.”

• To lend your support, visit alzres.uk/sign-our-petition

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