SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, September 21 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, Astrid Pérez, received this Thursday a delegation from the Association of Caregivers, Families and Friends of People with Dependence, Alzheimer’s and other Dementias (Acufade), on the occasion of the commemoration of ‘World Alzheimer’s Day’ , which called for the launch of the personal assistance service.
The meeting, held at the Presidency headquarters of the Canary Islands Parliament, brought together Astrid Pérez with the president of Acufade, Elena Felipe Pérez; the treasurer of the entity, Ursina Martín Fernández-González, and the board member Lourdes Regalado Díaz.
Astrid Pérez recalled that the Parliament of the Canary Islands is joining this “day of awareness and reflection” about a disease that, according to estimates by the Spanish Society of Neurology, affects around 800,000 people in Spain.
“Alzheimer’s is responsible for around 70% of all dementias and, currently, there is no effective treatment,” he said.
Acufade is a non-profit association, created in 2001 in the municipality of La Matanza de Acentejo, in Tenerife and after several years of work and dedication, on September 27, 2005 it was established as an association.
It was born with an insular scope, but starting in 2008, the general assembly expanded the scope of action to the entire agency and the entire Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and was declared a Public Utility in February 2011, Parliament reports in a note.
At this Thursday’s meeting Acufade addressed the current situation regarding care for Alzheimer’s and dementia in the Canary Islands; the Canary Islands Dementia Care Plan and, especially, the demand for personal assistance, “a right recognized in the Dependency Law and which, however, in the Canary Islands has neither regulation nor effective provision of that right to people who request it,” claimed Elena Felipe Pérez.
During the last session of the ‘Conecta Canarias-Europa Conference’, the Parliament of the Canary Islands shared several awareness and sensitization videos about Alzheimer’s prepared by Acufade and, in addition, illuminated the façade of the institution in purple to remember the celebration of this day. in memory of people affected by Alzheimer’s and their families.
