“Gordon Brown’s £15 billion pledge to turn recent progress in Alzheimer’s and other medical research into new treatments available to all is fantastic news. This may mark the beginning of the end of the UK's dementia epidemic.

For too long dementia research has been neglected; it currently receives just 3% of the government’s medical research budget.

If the policy matches the pledge, this offers hope to the 700,000 people in the UK who live with dementia.”

In his speech, Gordon Brown, said, "Over the last few years we've made major breakthroughs in research relevant to cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and strokes and many more. But these are yet to be turned into treatments from, which we can all benefit from.

And so let me tell you today that the unprecedented 15 billion pounds we are investing in medical research will be directed to turning the major advances of the last few years into actual treatments and cures for NHS patients. Over the next decade we can lead the way ...".

The Prime Minister's full speech can be found by clicking here.