Alzheimer Europe's September 2026 newsletter brings you the latest news on developments in the dementia field, across Europe and beyond.

Summaries of a few of our top stories appear below.

Our monthly newsletter reaches almost 11,000 people, who have an interest in dementia, from across Europe and beyond.

We are always happy to receive feedback, or suggestions regarding news items to share.

As part of World Alzheimer's Month, Alzheimer Europe invited MEPs to record and share video messages about the need for dementia to be prioritised as a policy issue at an EU level. These videos were then shared on social media, both in the run-up to and during our European Parliament exhibition. Alzheimer Europe is hugely grateful to all ten MEPs who contributed their videos.

Between 31 August and 4 September, Alzheimer Europe held an exhibition in the European Parliament under the title “Alzheimer Europe: Shaping Europe’s response to dementia”, focusing on the current state of dementia across Europe, highlighting issues including the prevalence of the condition, emerging treatments and developments in policy. In addition, panels featured information on Alzheimer Europe, the European Working Group of People with Dementia, the European Dementia Carers Working Group, as well as an overview of the Anti-Stigma Award. 

President Ursula von der Leyen’s 2026 State of the Union address sadly made little reference to health as a standalone political priority. The priorities laid out reflect a challenging geopolitical and economic environment and although many of the parameters included have an important bearing on health, we were disappointed with the shift away from health and will continue to emphasise the need for Europe to adopt a direct response to the growing issues caused by demographic change.

We are grateful to everyone who attended our reception to open the exhibition in the European Parliament, and to the MEPs who visited the exhibition and showed their support throughout the week-long event. This has led to five new members joining the European Alzheimer’s Alliance and new connections being made with other MEPs, both for us and our members.

With just a few weeks to go until the 36th Alzheimer Europe Conference in Dublin, now is the time to register for the conference networking dinner and 2026 Anti-Stigma Award on the 28 October in Dublin, Ireland.

September, also known as World Alzheimer’s Month, is always a busy and highly anticipated month for our members across Europe, and we are delighted to include a special “Spotlight” section in our newsletter, to showcase their impressive campaigning and events. A popular event amongst our members is the “Memory Walk”, with hundreds of these being organised through-out September. One such Memory Walk is hosted annually by Association Luxembourg Alzheimer, and we were delighted to join their 25th anniversary edition!