On 26 May 2021, Alzheimer Europe had a meeting with Dr Hans Kluge, Regional Director, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. During the meeting, Alzheimer Europe and Dr Kluge discussed the position of dementia policy, noting the positive developments at a global level, as well as the excellent working relationship between the WHO, WHO Europe and Alzheimer Europe.
Alzheimer Europe’s 
On 5 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched its Global Dementia Observatory Knowledge Exchange Platform during a one-hour webinar. The Platform contains key resources to support the implementation of the Global action plan on the public heath response to dementia 2017-2025 and its seven action areas.
On 7 May 2021, Alzheimer Europe issued a call for people with dementia and their carers to be given priority in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaigns across Europe. In its position statement, Alzheimer Europe notes that people with dementia have almost twice the risk for developing COVID-19 compared to their peers without dementia.
On 18 May 2021, Alzheimer Europe held an online session of its popular Alzheimer's Association Academy series. These Academy sessions have been running since December 2015, and have been online since the start of the COVID pandemic. The theme for the session of 18 May was “Sports and Dementia". 
We are delighted to invite you to submit abstracts and register for the upcoming 31st Alzheimer Europe Conference #31AEC, which will be a virtual conference, under the banner “Resilience in dementia: Moving beyond the COVID-19 pandemic”, from 29 November to 1 December 2021.
This newsletter received funding under an operating grant from the European Union’s Health Programme (2014-2020).