ABU DHABI, 21st September, 2026 (WAM) -- Policymakers, clinicians and healthcare leaders from across the Gulf have called for health systems to establish connected Alzheimer’s disease care pathways so that advances in science can translate into meaningful outcomes for patients and their families.
The call emerged from the Alzheimer’s Disease Continuum GCC event, a focused regional dialogue convened by Lilly Gulf and hosted by the Emirates International Neurological Sciences Society on the sidelines of the 6th Abu Dhabi Brain Conference.
The event brought together policymakers, neurologists, primary care specialists, diagnostic experts and other healthcare professionals. Patient and caregiver perspectives were also central to the discussion, while members of the regional media attended to extend the conversation beyond the room.
Participants examined a critical question facing health systems across the region: as scientific understanding of Alzheimer’s disease advances, are current healthcare pathways prepared to identify people earlier and support them throughout the course of the disease?
The discussions reinforced that progress cannot depend on isolated services or individual centres. Alzheimer’s disease develops across a continuum, and the healthcare response must operate as a continuum as well.
A connected pathway should begin with greater public understanding and recognition of cognitive changes. It should then provide a clear route into primary care, appropriate assessment, specialist referral and accurate diagnosis. From there, patients and families need access to suitable treatment, multidisciplinary care, follow-up and sustained practical and emotional support.
Without those connections, people may enter the healthcare system but struggle to understand where to go next, experience delays between services or receive a diagnosis without a clear route into continued care.
The dialogue identified five areas that health authorities and healthcare systems should consider when strengthening Alzheimer’s disease policy and care:
1. Make brain health part of healthy ageing policy
2. Define the pathway and assign responsibility at every stage
3. Develop diagnostic and care capacity together
4. Measure the outcomes that matter to patients and families
5. Recognise caregivers as part of the care pathway
Professor Suhail Al Rukn, President of the Emirates Neurology Society, said: “Alzheimer’s disease requires a healthcare response that is as connected as the journey patients and families experience. Earlier recognition must lead to accurate diagnosis, and diagnosis must lead to appropriate care and continued support. Establishing that continuity requires clear clinical standards, defined referral pathways and collaboration across every level of the healthcare system.”
More than 55 million people worldwide live with dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease is its most common form. Its impact extends beyond cognitive decline, affecting personal independence, family life and the long-term demands placed on healthcare and social-support systems.
Scientific advances are strengthening the ability to understand, detect and address Alzheimer’s disease earlier.
The discussion in Abu Dhabi emphasized, however, that innovation can only achieve its intended value when health systems are ready to deliver it.
This requires stronger coordination between primary care and specialist services. It also requires diagnostic infrastructure, trained healthcare professionals and models of care that continue supporting patients and families after diagnosis.
Leena Aziz, Senior Director and Head of Corporate and Government Affairs at Lilly Gulf (UAE, Kuwait and Qatar), said, “Scientific progress is changing what may be possible in Alzheimer’s disease, but progress in the laboratory must be matched by progress across the healthcare system. A person should not become lost between recognising a concern, receiving a diagnosis and accessing appropriate care. Our responsibility is to work alongside health authorities, clinicians and patient communities to help build the connected pathways needed to turn scientific advances into meaningful outcomes.”
Lilly has pursued Alzheimer’s disease research for more than 35 years. Its role in the regional dialogue is to contribute scientific experience and international learning while supporting the priorities set by health authorities and delivered by local healthcare institutions and clinicians.
The dialogue established a common principle: patients and families should experience Alzheimer’s care as one connected journey, rather than a series of separate services.
Abu Dhabi’s continued investment in prevention, diagnostic infrastructure, clinical excellence and research provides an important setting in which to examine how the different parts of that pathway can work together. Regional collaboration can help markets share evidence, learn from emerging models and adapt successful approaches to their own health systems.
The event concluded with a call to move the Alzheimer’s conversation from awareness to implementation. This includes defining care pathways, strengthening professional capabilities, measuring patient outcomes and ensuring that earlier diagnosis opens the door to continued care and support.
The policy discussion will inform continued engagement among health authorities, professional societies, healthcare institutions and patient communities across the region.