26 March 2012 Last updated at 03:20 ET

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Care Services Minister Paul Burstow: "Making dementia a national priority... is the way we can tackle this"

Funding for research into dementia is to be doubled to 66m by 2015 to try to make the UK a world leader in the field, David Cameron will announce.

The prime minister is expected to say in a speech that the level of diagnosis, understanding and awareness of dementia is "shockingly low".

Dementia is thought to affect around 800,000 people in the UK, with the cost to society estimated at 23bn.

In the next decade, the number with the disease is expected to top one million.

Mr Cameron will set out plans to step up research into cures and treatments and to ensure that the health and social care systems are equipped to deal with the problem.

Mr Cameron will say: "One of the greatest challenges of our time is what I'd call the quiet crisis, one that steals lives and tears at the hearts of families, but that relative to its impact is hardly acknowledged.

"Dementia is simply a terrible disease. And it is a scandal that we as a country haven't kept pace with it.

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£66m pledge for dementia research