The burden of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) for health and care systems in Europe is increasing.
However, current levels of policy development do not reflect the urgency for change, especially given the progress made in understanding the disease and new developments emerging in diagnosis and treatment.
In this report, funded by Biogen and authored by CRA with multi-stakeholder expert input, we assessed lessons for policy action in AD from oncology, as a disease area where there has been sustained and impactful policy prioritisation. Drawing on a panel of AD and oncology experts, we found that there is consensus that the current level of AD policy development in Europe does not reflect the growing burden of the disease and the need for a more comprehensive approach. The evidence base on the benefits of policy action is maturing rapidly, and our comparison between AD and oncology indicates that the time is right for a renewed focus on AD and the need for policies that address its urgent and growing burden.
The policy recommendations from this report include:
- Reframe AD as a manageable disease with a long presymptomatic phase that affects patients throughout adulthood.
- Support development of AD patient registries and data collection, including centralised EU data collection.
- Focus on early-stage diagnosis and improving access to testing that enables this.
- Adopt reimbursement and funding models that enable patient access to treatments and reflect the holistic value of these therapies.
- Support the development of additional AD specialists through dedicated training and the creation of specialist AD centres to increase treatment capacity.
