Baroness Louise Casey has called for dementia to become Britain’s next major national health mission, receiving the sustained focus that helped transform cancer outcomes. Her intervention follows a report warning that dementia diagnosis, treatment and care in England remain outdated, while experts say cancer’s progress offers a model for reform.

Dementia currently claims about 76,000 lives a year, and the number of people affected in the UK is expected to rise from one million to 1.4 million by 2040, with economic costs predicted to double. The report urges stronger leadership, clear diagnosis and treatment targets, better data and improved care; the government plans to appoint a dementia tsar, although concerns remain over the removal of a proposed 18-week diagnosis target.