40 million euros have just been allocated to the application of the Neurodegenerative Diseases plan. But for associations, the biggest remains to be done.
A year later, the mountain gave birth to a mouse. The Neurodegenerative Diseases plan, already criticized during its presentation, still does not convince patient associations. The Secretary of State for the Elderly has announced the release of new funds. But for France Alzheimer, which held this December 8 its 9e Met, it is too little and too late.
Certainly, Laurence Rossignol announced, during the Rencontres de France Alzheimer, the release of 40 million euros for Regional Health Agencies (ARS). “All the credits concerning the medico-social component of the plan have been delegated to the regional health agencies, with the circular issued on September 7,” she said.
The ARS are therefore now equipped, both technically and financially, with a budget of 40 million euros, to deploy the plan in their territory. This budget comes to supplement the 230 million euros which had not been used within the framework of the previous Alzheimer’s plan.
No implementation schedule
But the associations are not convinced, and they recalled it. “We are in the infancy” of the implementation of the Neurodegenerative Diseases plan. Such is the comment of Joël Jaouen, president of France Alzheimer, in front of the press. The formula clearly shows the annoyance that is mounting among patients and their caregivers. It must be said that in one year, the Neurodegenerative Diseases plan has not really led to progress.
Under this new plan, which runs until 2019, several thousand patients are gathered: 850,000 Alzheimer’s patients, 150,000 Parkinson’s and 85,000 people with multiple sclerosis. And in an open letter sent on November 18 to the President of the Republic, six associations representing them denounced the “inertia” at work since its presentation of the plan.
Besides the insufficient budget, the implementation schedule is conspicuous by its absence. This slowness was all the more unwelcome since the announcement of the plan had offered a lot of hope.
The associations also regretted the lack of political investment on the issue. “Neither the Minister in charge of Social Affairs, Health and Women’s Rights, nor the Prime Minister, seem to have made the Neurodegenerative Diseases plan one of the priorities of this five-year term”, they deplore.
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