The government has appointed researcher and university lecturer Charles Scerri as the national focal point for dementia to develop a national strategy by the end of the year.
During a press conference this afternoon, Parliamentary Secretary Franco Mercieca said the government was committed to improving conditions for dementia patients and their relatives.
There are some 5,200 people suffering from dementia, and this number willl increase to 14,000 in the next 25 years, Dr Mercieca said.
A draft of the national dementia strategy had already been presented in January of 2010, but this had been shelved, Dr Mercieca noted.
Dr Scerri will help revise this draft, and an updated one will be drawn up by the end of the year. This will then be presented for public consultation with the main stakeholders, which included relatives of dementia sufferers.