On 14th May 2023, a Dementia Symposium Commemorating the G7 Health Ministers’ Meeting in Nagasaki “Collaboration in the International Community for Advancing Dementia Measures in a New Era” was hosted by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) with supports of World Dementia Council (WDC) and HGPI. The recording of this event will be available in due course.

[Event overview]

After the G8 Dementia Summit held in the U.K. in 2013, the G8 Health Ministers issued a joint declaration that called on the international community to collaborate on measures for dementia. The decade following that event has seen progress both in efforts to formulate national strategies for dementia and to collaborate internationally on dementia measures.
Under the New Orange Plan presented at a follow-up event to the 2013 G8 Summit and the 2019 successor to that plan, the National Framework for Promotion of Dementia Policies, Japan has advanced comprehensive measures for dementia under the two pillars of inclusion and prevention. There has also been noteworthy progress in recent years in communication from people living with dementia and their families and their involvement in the policy-making process.
Momentum is now building for efforts to overcome the impact of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and engage in international cooperation to build an inclusive society. There has also been recent progress in the development of new therapeutics for dementia, and expectations for Japan to promote international cooperation in its capacity as this year’s G7 President are growing.
Given these developments, together with parties like international organizations for dementia that are related to the G7, patient advocacy organizations, and researchers, this symposium aims to reaffirm the importance of building an inclusive society, achieving innovation, and encouraging international collaboration to promote dementia policies in this new era under the leadership of Japan, the country where population aging has advanced the most.

• Date & time: Sunday, May 14, 2023; 8:30-10:30 JST
• Languages: English and Japanese (with simultaneous interpretation)
• Host: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW)
• Support: Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI), World Dementia Council (WDC)

[Program] (Titles omitted; in no particular order, times shown in Japan Local Time (GMT+9))

08:30-08:35 Opening remarks

08:35-08:55 Special remarks

08:55-09:10 Address from people with dementia and their family members

Kazuko Fujita (CEO, Japan Dementia Working Group (JDWG))
Morio Suzuki (President, Alzheimer’s Association Japan)
Yutaka Tanaka (KIBO TAISHI of Nagasaki Prefecture)

09:10-09:45 Panel discussion 1: Inclusion

Chair:
Kenji Toba (CEO, Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology)

Paola Barbarino (CEO, Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI))
Shuichi Awata (President, Integrated Research Initiative for Living Well with Dementia, Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology)
Joanne Pike (President and CEO, Alzheimer’s Association)
Fiona Carragher (Director of Research and Influencing, Alzheimer’s Society)

09:45-10:20 Panel discussion 2: Risk reduction & innovation

Chair:
Haruhiko Akiyama (Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED))

Takeshi Iwatsubo (Professor, Department of Basic Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo)
Bart De Strooper (Professor, UK Dementia Research Institute, University College London)
Philip Scheltens (Chair, World Dementia Council (WDC))
George Vradenburg (Founding Chairman, Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC))

10:20-10:25 Special contents

10:25-10:30 Closing remarks

Lenny Shallcross (Executive Director, WDC)
Kiyoshi Kurokawa (Chairman, HGPI; Vice Chair, WDC)