Greek researchers from the US’ Johns Hopkins University and Ionian University have joined forces to confront the epidemic of Alzheimer’s disease and its related disorders in Greece.
The new initiative aims at tackling the disease, which is now becoming a pandemic in the developed world. It was presented by the Greek Initiative Against Alzheimer’s (hiaad.org) in a press conference held on Wednesday in Athens,
“This is a national crisis that needs a national response. I take great pride in the presence of many government and other agencies that will help us achieve this goal,” said HIAAD Professor Constantine Lyketsos, who is also head of the Memory and Alzheimer’s Treatment Centre at Johns Hopkins.
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The initiative is designed to cover all available approaches to the problem, from raising awareness and creating new structures, to the use of high-powered computing infrastructures for research in personalised therapies and the development of high-tech tools aimed at physicians, patients and caretakers.
The new project is under the auspices of the President of the Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, and is currently benefiting from the support of the Ministries of Health, Education and Religions, Development and Investment and Tourism.
“We are here to update the National Plan against Alzheimer’s and to incorporate new data,” Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said.
The proposal envisages inter alia the establishment of an International Commission with the involvement of dementia experts as well as legal and patient representatives.
Sourced by: Greek Reporter
