Delivered by Vanessa Peberdy, Manager, Global Health Policy
Thank you on behalf of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) for the opportunity to provide our perspective on dementia. IFPMA represents leading research-based pharmaceutical companies, as well as national and regional industry associations worldwide.
IFPMA commends the WHO Secretariat for its vision and resolute leadership in addressing dementia. We applaud WHO for taking such an important step towards developing a global action plan which calls for all stakeholders, including the private sector, to tackle the dementia crisis.
We support the 7 action areas in the plan, especially the need to advance research and innovation as a key contribution to help fight this syndrome. Drug development for dementia is highly challenging due to lower success rates, longer development times, and difficulties in recruitment of trial participants. We support WHO’s push for a significant upscaling of research investment, to help incentivize research, and accelerate the development of new therapies and diagnostics for dementia. IFPMA members are committed to doing our part to make much-needed scientific advancements through collaborative dementia research.
We look forward to working with all parts of the global health community to build a stronger public health response to dementia.