Alzheimer’s Innovation Readiness Index 2021

Alzheimer’s Disease International and the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA) has launched a new report called the 2021 Alzheimer’s Innovation Readiness Index (AIRI), which evaluates 10 European countries on how well they are addressing Alzheimer’s disease.

The Innovation Readiness Indexes are a series of reports produced in collaboration with the GCOA. Each report aims to comprehensively survey, quantify and analyse the readiness of a subset of countries or regions, in order to prompt and guide discussions regarding how to best develop and implement innovative solutions for dementia.

This report, which focuses on a subset of countries in Europe (Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom), evaluates these countries across five domains, Strategy & Commitment, Early Detection & Diagnosis, Access to Care (Medical), Awareness & Monitoring, and Care Standards & Settings, rating each on a 100-point scale.

The report shines a light on the urgency required to improve policies and political commitment around Alzheimer’s disease and care. The amalgamation of globally ageing populations will place insurmountable pressure on healthcare systems and societies around the world unless more governments introduce national dementia plans using recommendations from this report to avert a global public health crisis. Poignantly, this index comes at a time when the disproportionate and long-lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have shown just how unprepared healthcare systems are to care for this vulnerable constituency.