Terry Pratchett speaks out about Alzheimer’s at Tory party conference

14 October 2008 (12:56) Alzheimer's Appearances Terry Pratchett News News Archives

Terry Pratchett spoke at the September 29th Tory party conference, opening up about his experience with Alzheimer’s and explaining why the U.K. needs to increase its funding for Alzheimer’s research, concluding his speech to a standing ovation.

The non-conservative Pratchett slowed several times during the speech, saying the disease was “making the letters dance.” He compared Alzheimer’s to a “slow motion car crash.”

“Always, at the back of your mind, [is] the thought that sooner or later you’ll go through the windscreen,” Pratchett said.

He continued his ongoing comparison of Alzheimer’s to cancer, saying that while cancer is no longer a taboo subject, Alzheimer’s is still “stuck in a medieval fog of superstition, misunderstanding, and silence.”

The U.K. faces one million of Alzheimer’s sufferers by 2025, he told the audience, saying “I am just a little wave ahead of the rest. Technically, I have early onset, but growing older behind me are the baby-boomers.”

“We are facing a tsunami,” which will put too much strain the NHS and carers, with effects on the society as a whole, he said.

The cost of care for “a large population of helpless elderly” may be in the billions of pounds if something isn’t done soon, as Pratchett said, “what is unthinkable is to do nothing at all.”

Pratchett asked for more funding for research, saying healthcare and technology must advance if the nation is to deal with the problem. In addition, he said, he wants Alzheimer’s “to be dragged into the light and stay there and seen for what it is–a random disease and no cause for shame.”

He asked the audience, “Is there going to be a government of any stripe willing to put its money where its mouth is … or will dementia remain the most feard disease of the over-55s?”

1. AFP, Sept. 29, 2008.
2. The Press Association, Sept. 29, 2008.

Update: The full text of his speech can be found on PJSMPrints.