Alzheimer's Society comments on ONS figures showing dementia as the leading cause of death in England ahead of Coronavirus in March 2021

James White, Head of Public Affairs and Campaigns at Alzheimer's Society said:

'It’s great to see Covid deaths dropping, particularly for people with dementia, worst hit by coronavirus, but we are hugely concerned that dementia returns as the leading cause of death in the UK, while still so much needs to be done to support people with the condition.

'People with dementia have deteriorated significantly more than we would usually expect during the last year, so we are extremely concerned we’ll see a rise of pandemic-related dementia deaths continuing. We urgently need the government to introduce a national strategy to help prevent people living with dementia from permanently losing any more vital skills, and provide crucial support to those in care positions. And they need to follow through with their manifesto commitment to increasing dementia research funding so we can continue to make life changing progress. There is currently no cure for dementia, but with funding for research we will get there.'