UK: Panel report says dementia treatment should be NHS priority

Dementia must be viewed as an urgent priority afteryears of woeful neglect by the NHS, says the House of Commons PublicAccounts Committee (PAC).The disease deserves the same attention accorded tocancer and heart disease, given that so many of us are now set todevelop the condition, the MPs said.They compared it to cancer in the 1950s, when fear and mystery surrounded a disease seen as untreatable.Just over 500,000 people in England suffer from dementia.The report from the cross-party committee, whichscrutinises public spending , follows one from the National AuditOffice which said England lagged behind Europe when it came todiagnosis and access to drugs.The panel, which is led by a Tory MP, says theDepartment of Health has not given the disease the attention itdeserves and so the NHS has failed to deliver on both fronts.

Source/more:  BBC