President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday unveiled a five-year plan to fight Alzheimer's disease that afflicts 860,000 elderly people in France.
The 1.6-billion-euro (2.4-billion-dollar) plan provides for the creation of a new research foundation to pool efforts at scientific advances and sets up a network of nursing homes to help families cope."This is a lasting commitment on behalf of the state in the fight against this disease," Sarkozy said during a visit to Sophia Antipolis, near the French Riviera city of Nice.
"This is a personal commitment," added Sarkozy, who had singled out Alzheimer's disease as a priority of his health policy during his campaign for the presidency last year.
Most of the funds for the plan will come from a new user fee on health services that came into effect on January 1.
The France-Alzheimer association representing families of Alzheimer's patients welcomed the plan, with president Arlette Meyrieux saying it could yield "significant progress" .
But she added "we want to see the details and how it's going to be implemented and with what means."
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The degenerative brain disorder is the leading cause of loss of autonomy for the elderly.
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Source-AFP
SRM/L
