The World Dementia Council has held its 2019 summit — the legacy of the G20 Japanese presidency — in Tokyo, Japan. On 18 October 2019, international dementia leaders from government, academia, industry, public policy, civil society and those affected by the disease, gathered once again to reflect on progress made and how we can accelerate further progress towards developing treatments and improving the lives of people affected by dementia.

The Dutch Health Minister, Hugo de Jonge, told participants that we will not cope with the challenges we face as countries on our own. This global collaboration challenge, then, is one that will be solved by governments, civil society, academia, the care community and industry all working together to create new innovations, partnerships and national frameworks.

The summit underlined the progress made since the first G8 dementia summit held in London in 2013. A series of announcements were made, including a new sample sharing partnership between Shionogi, Janssen and ADDF, and the launch of the new WHO dementia-inclusive toolkit that will now be field tested. And as the health ministers made their Declaration at the end of the weekend, Japanese leadership at this year's G20 has seen nations redouble their shared commitment to tackling dementia.

The summit was hosted in partnership with Janssen Neuroscience and the Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI).