There is $21m for 13 projects on risk reduction, prevention and tracking dementia, including one covering the minister’s electorate

The always-announcing Greg Hunt has released two rounds of dementia funding.

The University of Melbourne leads with three $1.6m grants; to Yen Ying Lim for strategies to prevent memory decline, Amy Brodtmann for a project on cardiovascular exercise for stroke victims and Lisbeth Evered is funded for work on cognition and surgery.

Monash is funded for two projects at its Peninsula campus, where the university is going big with an investment in allied health and primary health (CMM September 27 2016). One is $600 000 Velandai Srikanth for, “leveraging electronic medical records and routine administrative data towards a population approach for monitoring dementia frequency, risk factors and management.”

According to Mr Hunt it, “will use the unique aspects of the Peninsula region to conduct a pilot study for a program that will be rolled out across Victoria and nationally if successful.”

Yes, the Peninsula region is in Mr Hunt’s seat of Flinders but that’s not why its unique. Dementia Australia reports that in 2017 the seat had the highest prevalence of persons with dementia in Victoria.