1984
- Sunday 21 October - The Alzheimer's Association (USA), with
encouragement from the World Health Organization, calls a meeting in
Washington DC with representatives from Alzheimer associations in Canada,
Australia, the UK and individuals from France, Belgium and Germany with a
view to set up an international Alzheimer organisation
- Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, daughter of Rita Hayworth who had Alzheimer's
disease, is elected as the organisation's president
- Thomas Ennis from the USA is elected as acting Secretary of this
organisation
1985
- Executive committee meets in January to draw up aims and objectives and
bylaws
- Office space is provided by the Alzheimer's Association (USA) at their
national office in Chicago
- Association hold first international meeting in Brussels, Belgium
- A network with over 100 individual contacts has been developed
1986
- Vince Gillis, national executive director of Canada, acts as Secretary
General
- Name "Alzheimer's Disease International: The International Federation
of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Societies Inc (ADI)" is
formally approved
- Belgium, France, Ireland and Sweden are accepted as members - bringing
membership of ADI to 8 countries
- Second annual international meeting hosted in Paris, France

1987
- ADI meets in Chicago, USA for third annual international meeting
- Membership grows to 11 countries as New Zealand, Germany and Italy are
accepted
1988
- Fourth annual international meeting held in Brisbane, Australia
- Mexico accepted as full members of ADI - taking membership to 12
countries
- Edward Truschke, president and CEO of the Alzheimer's Association (USA)
appointed acting Secretary General
1989
- Annual international conference hosted in Dublin, Ireland
- Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel (MSAP) was set up - Franz Baro
elected chair
- Membership grows to 14 as Finland and the Netherlands join ADI's
network
- Rachel Billington, a member of staff from the Alzheimer's Association
(USA), appointed as Deputy Secretary General of ADI

1990
- First issue of Global Perspective - ADI's newsletter - is launched in
April
- Sixth annual international meeting held in Mexico City, Mexico
- South Africa and Switzerland are accepted as full members, Venezuela
and Argentina as provisional members, bringing total number of countries to
18
- Brian Moss, Australia, elected chairman of ADI
- ADI in contact with 51 countries
- ADI invited by the World Health Organization (WHO) to participate in
developing a statement for a position paper on mental health for the
elderly
1991
- Annual international conference hosted in Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Membership grows to 21 as Argentina accepted as full members and
Denmark, Puerto Rico and Chile accepted as provisional members
- ADI formally approves is first logo
1992
- ADI enters into an official Working Relationship with WHO in
September
- Annual international meeting hosted in Brussels, Belgium
- Japan become full members, whilst Brazil, India, Israel, Spain accepted
as provisional members - membership now 25 countries
- Rachel Billington becomes full-time paid Secretary General of ADI

1993
- Annual international conference "Global challenge ... Local action"
hosted in Toronto, Canada
- ADI membership grows to 26 as full members status is granted to India,
Spain and Israel and provisional status to Austria
- ADI issues results of first prevalence survey in member countries
- Medical and Scientific Panel elects new chair, Henry Brodaty. Over 100
of world's top researchers and clinicians are recruited to panel
1994
- ADI celebrates its 10th anniversary by launching World Alzheimer's Day
with the support of WHO on 21 September
- "A Decade of Change - Looking back ... Looking forward" ADI conference
hosted by Alzheimer Scotland - Action on Dementia in Edinburgh, within
which ADI organises its first consensus conference 'predictive genetic
testing'
- Membership continues to grow to 33 as Austria accepted full members and
Ecuador, Korea, Luxembourg, Romania, Uruguay provisional members
- ADI collaborates with WHO to produce booklet "Help for Carers" which
was sent to health ministers in 189 countries
1995
- ADI Secretariat is moved to London, UK and Robert Gomez is appointed
Secretary General
- Italy, Korea, Luxembourg, Romania and Uruguay accepted as full members;
Guatemala, Poland and Singapore as provisional bringing total number of
countries to 36
- Eleventh annual international conference "An Interdisciplinary Focus on
Dementia Care" hosted by ALMA in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Includes second
consensus conference 'screening for dementia in general practice'
- Ronald Reagan announces he has Alzheimer's disease
- Booklet "How to start a self help group" is published by ADI

1996
- WHO enters into Official Relations with ADI
- Nori Graham, UK, is elected chairman of ADI
- Guatemala, Hong Kong, Brazil, Venezuela accepted full members of ADI
and Colombia, Dominican Republic provisional members bringing membership to
40
- Twelfth annual international conferences 'Interface of Ethics and
Science' hosted in Jerusalem, Israel
- Elizabeth Rimmer joins ADI staff on part-time basis
- The way forward - discussion paper on the future for ADI prepared for
discussion at executive meeting
1997
- Thirteenth annual conference "Alzheimer's: The Blind Hunter" hosted in
Helsinki, Finland
- ADI launches charter 'A race against time' on World Alzheimer's
Day
- Elizabeth Rimmer is appointed Executive Director of ADI
- Greece, Poland and Singapore become full members and Cuba, Czech
Republic provisional members - total number of members now 42
countries
- ADI launches website
- Luchi Fernandez appointed Communications Assistant to ADI
- ADI produces first factsheets
1998
- Fourteenth annual international meeting 'Dementia the global challenge'
hosted in Cochin, India - the first meeting in Asia
- ADI rebranded by leading design consultancy Lambie-Nairn
- ADI launched Alzheimer University - a training programme for newly
established Alzheimer associations
- 10/66 Dementia Research Group is founded - the group aim to redress the
imbalance of dementia research in the developing world
- Colombia becomes full member and Turkey a provisional member - total
number of countries now 43
- Members in Latin America hold their first regional meeting in
Venezuela
- Members from Asia Pacific take the opportunity of being together in
India and hold their first regional meeting
- Susan Frade appointed Communications Assistant to ADI; Michael Lefevre
starts part-time as Finance and Computing Assistant
1999
- First annual international conference in Africa 'Dementia challenge of
our time: Creating Hope for the New Millennium' hosted in Johannesburg,
South Africa
- ADI launches international Charter of Principles for care of people
with dementia and their carers
- Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director General of the WHO supports World
Alzheimer's Day
- Business plan for next three years approved by the executive
committee
- Membership grows to 50 as Turkey, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Czech
Republic become full members of ADI and Iceland, Malaysia, Nigeria, Russia,
Slovak Republic, Thailand and Uganda provisional members
- ADI produces 'Dementia in Primary Care' video in collaboration with
Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

2000
- ADI co-hosts World Alzheimer's Congress in Washington DC, USA - the
largest dementia research, education and networking event ever held
generating an estimated 561 media impressions. Congress includes the third
consensus conference 'harmonising caregiver outcome measures'
- Costa Rica, Cyprus, El Salvador, Pakistan, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago
and Ukraine become provisional members of ADI bringing the total number of
members to 57 members
- ADI launches 'Help for Caregivers' online
- ADI collaborates with WHO to develop and evaluate services for people
with dementia in the Dominican Republic, PR China, Russia and India
- Lucy Hawkins is appointed as Administrator and Michael Lefevre becomes
Finance and Technology Officer; ADI now has 4 full time members of
staff
2001
- Mental health is selected as theme for World Health Day (7 April) and
ADI invited by WHO to deliver a statement at the official launch 'Stop
Exclusion. Dare to Care' in Geneva
- Pakistan accepted as a full member and PR China, Philippines and Sri
Lanka become provisional members as membership grows to 60
- Seventeenth annual international conference "Partnerships in Dementia
Care" hosted in Christchurch, New Zealand
- ADI sets up a People with Dementia working group
- Helen Regan is appointed administrator of ADI; Susan Frade becomes
Membership and Communications Officer and Lucy Hawkins Fundraising
Officer
2002
- Henry Brodaty, from Australia, becomes ADI's third chairman
- 64 countries are now members of ADI as PR China, Cyprus, Peru,
Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand accepted as full members and Egypt,
Panama, Serbia and Montenegro and Zimbabwe accepted as provisional
members
- Eighteenth annual international conference 'Dementia meeting the
challenge together' is hosted in Barcelona, Spain
- ADI develops factsheet on people with intellectual disabilities and
dementia
- Steve DeKosky becomes chair of medical and scientific advisory
panel
- ADI employ an external consultant to lead the Executive committee
through a strategic review to set out priorities for the next three
years
- The Executive committee undertake a Governance and Membership
review
- ADI produces toolkit for members on how to involve people with dementia
in Alzheimer associations
- ADI employs external fundraising consultant
2003
- Egypt, Costa Rica and Panama accepted as full members of ADI, and
Norway and Indonesia become provisional members. ADI has 66 member
countries
- 10/66 Dementia Research Group publish their first piece of research in
The Lancet
- Nineteenth annual international conference 'Discovering Dementia'
hosted in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- Members in Latin America launch a formal Alzheimer Ibero American
Regional group
- ADI elects its first person with dementia to the executive
committee
- Membership and Governance review recommendations accepted by
members
- World Alzheimer's Day is observed in 57 countries - the largest
participation to date
- ADI organises its fifth Alzheimer University training programme. 41
countries have participated to date
- ADI invited by WHO to participate in working group on mental
health
2004
- ADI celebrates its 20th anniversary
Where next?
