Leading dementia organisations have joined forces to publish a manifesto ahead of the General Election on 4 July.

The collaboration between Alzheimer Scotland, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society, Dementia UK and the UK Dementia Research Institute calls on the next government to take action for the one in two of the population who will be directly affected by dementia.

The manifesto calls for improvements in:

• Prevention – including recommendations for a cross-governmental ‘Brain Health’ National Prevention Strategy to address the health and lifestyle factors that affect the risk of developing dementia
• Diagnosis – setting out the need for ambitious national diagnostic targets, a pilot of brain health clinics to deliver equitable high-quality services and the importance of investing to integrate promising research into accurate and deliverable diagnostic tools 
• Support – calling for improved dementia support in primary care settings and extending the national dementia diagnosis targets to include young onset dementia, where symptoms develop under the age of 65 
• Care – including a sustainable funding model for quality personalised care and an immediate review of the NHS continued healthcare funding application process to recognise the needs of people living with dementia 
• Research – setting out the need to increase real-term spending on dementia research to accelerate new treatments, publish a long-term strategic approach to dementia research and promote and embed dementia research across the UK