David Cameron has called the problem of dementia a "national crisis"

Funding for research into dementia is to be more than doubled by 2015 in a bid to make Britain a world leader in the field, David Cameron will announce.

The prime minister will declare on Monday that tackling the "national crisis" posed by the disease is one of his personal priorities.

He will say it is a "scandal" that the UK has not done more to address dementia, which is thought to affect 670,000 people although about 400,000 have not been diagnosed and do not know they have it. The cost to UK society is estimated at 23 billion.

Over the next 10 years, the number with the disease is expected to rise to one million.

Launching a "national challenge on dementia", 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.

Overall funding for dementia research is to reach 66m by 2015, from 26.6 in 2010.

"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," he will say.

"Dementia is simply a terrible disease. And it is a scandal that we as a country haven't kept pace with it. The level of diagnosis, understanding and awareness of dementia is shockingly low. It is as though we've been in collective denial."

The prime minister will say that the costs associated with the disease are already higher than those for cancer, heart disease or stroke.

Read more here:
Cameron Pledges Huge Dementia Research Funding Boost