Finding a Cure for Alzheimer's

The Government is investing over £130 million in new tech to tackle cancer and debilitating illnesses, including cancer, dementia and Parkinson’s.

I am delighted, along with my colleagues the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care and the Minister for Innovation, to have announced today details of how the Government will help thousands of people across the country living with debilitating, painful and/or sometimes life-threatening diseases by investing £133 million in life-changing treatments for arthritis and cancer and for pioneering gene-based therapies for diseases including dementia and Parkinson’s.

Chronic and painful illnesses like arthritis and Parkinson’s are dreadful and prevent people from living a full life. Curing these kinds of debilitating illnesses is one of the great challenges we face globally, and today’s commitment will play a vital role in ensuring that our scientists and thinkers have the tools they need to find new treatments that will support people to lead longer, healthier lives.

My own Parliamentary team have all been trained as Dementia Friends, and I look forward to holding a Dementia coffee morning later this year in Towcester to meet with people living with dementia, their families and those who care for them so that I can hear directly from them about their experiences, and the challenges they face day-to-day.

Faster, more accurate diagnosis, and earlier interventions will be boosted by £50 million to be pumped into NHS diagnostic services and support the work of existing Centres of Excellence in digital pathology and imaging with artificial intelligence. The centres – based in Leeds, Oxford, Coventry and London – will be able to partner with more NHS Trusts and further develop cutting edge products using digital systems and artificial intelligence that could ultimately save lives.

Adult social care will also receive a new cash injection of £7.5 million to use research to improve care delivery for some of the most vulnerable people in our society and £14 million for bioscience projects and technologies across the UK that could, for example, treat osteoarthritis and develop new vaccines.

As my colleague the Health Secretary said:

“We’ve got to bring NHS technology into the 21st century. The NHS is now spearheading world-leading technologies that can transform and save lives through new treatments, diagnosis techniques and care.”