Sir.-The Basingstoke & District branch of the Alzheimer's Society is joining thousands of people across the country to express their shock at a decision that could see people with dementia being denied drugs that work because they are deemed too expensive for the NHS.

If initial guidance by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is not changed, thousands of people with Alzheimer's will be deprived of the only treatment available to them.

Local members of the Basingstoke & District branch will be sending letters to NICE demanding that it considers their experiences of these drugs and the difference it has made to their lives.

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, has expressed shock at the proposal that vulnerable people with Alzheimer's disease should not receive treatments that have been proven to work.

This seems just another example of the NHS failing to take dementia seriously as a medical condition.

Despite the fact that these drugs are proven to work, NICE believes they aren't good value for money. We know they are.

The society has seven years of evidence that proves these drugs improve the quality of people's lives.

NICE seems to think that people with dementia aren't worth spending money on, but how else can you change someone's life for just £2.50 a day?

Preventing people who may benefit from receiving a drug treatment that works will see us lose a decade of progress and return to a dark age of dementia care.

We are deeply concerned that, if this proposal is approved, hundreds of people in the area will no longer have access to drug treatments that can help them.

I would ask everyone in the Basingstoke area who is affected by this issue to contact NICE to say why these drugs are so vital for people with Alzheimer's.

The Basingstoke & District branch will be joining a nationwide campaign by the Alzheimer's Society to change NICE's initial decision before the final guidance is issued later this year.

Meanwhile, it will be advising its local members to try not to panic and to continue taking their drugs as prescribed.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive disease, which means that gradually, over time, more parts of the brain are damaged.

People in the early stages may experience lapses of memory and have problems finding the right words.

As the disease progresses, people with Alzheimer's need more support from those who care for them, eventually needing help with all daily activities.

These drug treatments do not cure Alzheimer's, and they do not work for everyone, but they offer hope for the thousands who do benefit.

Any treatment that can give people with dementia and their carers an improved quality of life should be an essential part of dementia care.

For more information, contact the local branch support worker, Diane Houchin, on 01256 363393.

-Mrs Dinah Kennedy, chairman, Basingstoke & District branch of the Alzheimers Society.