Page 94 - MaquetaFundCIEN-2019-ENG

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Annual Report 2019
has been recognized by various international institutions such as the European Union (EU), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Health Organization (WHO), etc.), and the industrialized countries that constitute the G8. This global concern has led to the creation of the World Dementia Council (WDC) with the aim of collectively spur action against dementia worldwide in the areas of re- search, clinical care and social awareness.
The leaders of governments, businesses and academia also recognize the need for a coordinated strategy to address this major global challenge for health systems. There is consensus among all stakeholders on the need to build capacities, infrastructures and R&D resources in the field of neurodegenerative diseases. As a result, WHO has de- cided to establish a global observatory on dementia to monitor the prevalence of the condition and resources to care for patients in Member States as well as to track the establishment of national plans and policies against dementia.
There is also a pressing need for global participation and a commitment to a significant increase in investment in skills and resources to reduce the duration of these chronic brain pathologies and/or the number of people at risk. This budgetary effort should be accompanied by sound policies and legislative initiatives to encourage public-private partnerships. History has shown that collaboration between academic researchers, government agencies and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies is an essen- tial ingredient in promoting this type of ambitious initiatives, especially when resources are limited.
Supporting research in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders has been and is one of the working priorities of the Queen Sofia Foundation since 2002, the year that promoted the construction of the Queen Sofia Foundation Alzheimer Center (CAFRS, for its acro- nym in Spanish), and from which it has continued to support the work of the institutions related to this dementia, both financially as well as with the invaluable drive and per- sonal interest of Queen Sofia. In this context, in recent years CIEN Foundation together with the Network Center for Biomedical Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases (CI- BERNED, for its acronym in Spanish) has given a boost to its relations with international organizations in the area of research in neurodegenerative diseases such as the EU Joint Programme for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND) and the Network of Centers of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (COEN), among other initiatives. These and other internationalization activities carried out during 2018 by CIEN Foundation are detailed below
.