The flagship measures of the plan to combat neurodegenerative diseases (formerly the “Alzheimer’s plan”) have just been unveiled by the government.
This fourth plan is installed in the continuity of the plan Alzheimer’s introduced between 2008 and 2012, with the difference that it now includes two other neurodegenerative diseases: Parkinson’s and the multiple sclerosis.
In all, more than one million French people are affected since Alzheimer’s today affects nearly 800,000 people, Parkinson’s more than 150,000 and there are 80,000 patients with multiple sclerosis. Diseases which have in common the slow destruction of neurons in the brain, and whose treatments are still limited.
96 measures, but uncertain funding
This new five-year control program includes 96 major measures to advance research, diagnosticcare, accompaniment of the sick but also of their loved ones.
The plan aims first and foremost to guarantee early diagnosis and to make access to healthcare accessible and personalized throughout the territory.
“Caregivers” are also affected by the plan, which aims to strengthen the assistance provided to the families of patients. According to the French Association of Caregivers, they are more than 4 million in France to take care of their sick relatives. An exhausting and costly task, which costs 1,000 euros per month and per family on average, according to the France Alzheimer association.
But for the moment, these measures seem rather abstract since the report does not specify how they will be financed.
In an interview with the Allodocteurs.fr site, Agnès Gorczyka of the France Alzheimer Association expressed concern that she did not yet have any details on the financial aspect of the fight plan. Especially since, according to her, the 3rd Alzheimer’s plan had only been funded up to 41%…
Scheduled for October 30, the full presentation of the fight plan has been postponed until November 18, “for scheduling reasons”, the government said.
