This House of Lords Library Briefing provides information to mark World Alzheimer's Day on 21 September 2019.
World Alzheimer's Day (189 KB , PDF)
World Alzheimer’s Day takes place on 21 September each year. Promoted by Alzheimer’s Disease International, the aim of the day is to raise awareness and challenge the stigma that surrounds dementia. The theme of the campaign this year, ‘Let’s Talk About Dementia: End the Stigma’, focuses on attitudes towards the disease.
This briefing provides information on: the causes of Alzheimer’s disease; its relationship with dementia; attitudes towards dementia; government policy; and statistics on the scale and cost of Alzheimer’s.
World Alzheimer's Day (189 KB , PDF)
Highlighting the human and economic costs of accidents, and rising rates of accidental deaths in the UK, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has called for the government to create a national accident prevention strategy. RoSPA argues that currently, responsibility for accident prevention is too fragmented. The government has not yet commented on this proposal.
In recent years, resident doctors (formerly known as junior doctors) have faced increased competition for specialty training roles. Doctors can apply for specialty training after completing two years of foundation placements. While NHS England is in the process of reviewing postgraduate training for medics, the government’s new 10 year plan for the NHS has pledged to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors with significant NHS experience for specialty training. The plan also included an ambition to create more specialist posts.
The Still-Birth (Definition) Bill [HL] would amend the legal definition of stillbirth in England and Wales to apply from 20 weeks into a pregnancy, rather than the current 24 weeks. It is scheduled to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 4 July 2025.
![Still-Birth (Definition) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 39 of 2024–25](https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/paolo-nicolello-KY6NHtBWJB8-unsplash-1-568x320.jpg)