Dementia centre announced

THE number of people affected by dementia in the Republic is estimated at between 5 and 8 per cent of people aged over 65, giving a figure of up to 32,000 sufferers, the Minister for Health said yesterday. The announcement by Mr Noonan of the establishment of a dementia service information and development centre at St James's Hospital, Dublin, was welcomed yesterday in Limerick by the Irish and European delegates at the closing stage of a two-day conference on Alzheimer's Disease and related disorders. Mr Noonan said the centre would operate in association with the Mercier Institute for Research on Ageing and Trinity College Dublin.