Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the level of funding available for research into (a) Alzheimer's disease and (b) other forms of dementia.

The Department funds research into dementia via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR continues to invest in dementia research across all areas, from causes, diagnosis and prevention to treatment, care and support, including for carers.

The NIHR has established several investments to boost progress and funding in dementia such as the £49.9 million Dementia Trials Network, which will deliver a coordinated network of early phase dementia trial sites. The NIHR is also funding two Dementia and Neurodegeneration Policy Research Units worth £3 million per unit to further boost evidence for policymaking. As well as this, the NIHR continues to fund the successful £13.5 million Three Schools Dementia Programme which links public health, primary care and social care via our NIHR research schools, namely Schools for Social Care, Public Health and Primary Care Research. The NIHR has also awarded almost £11 million of funding to develop new digital approaches for the early detection and diagnosis of dementia.

The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including dementia. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.