Alzheimer’s Pakistan earlier yesterday launched World Alzheimer Report 2015: ‘the Global Impact of Dementia: an analysis of prevalence, incidence, cost and trends’ informing participants that there are around 46.8 million people with dementia around the world, with numbers projected to nearly double every 20 years.
There are over 9.9 million new cases of dementia each year worldwide, implying one new case every 3.2 seconds.
Addressing a press conference on the eve of World Alzheimer’s Day on Sunday, Alzheimer’s Pakistan Patron Dr Yasmin Rashid said there were one million Alzheimer’s patients in the country and the number could rise sharply in the future. She said the report showed the current annual societal and economic cost of dementia was $818 billion, which was expected to become a trillion in three years. That means if global dementia care was a country, it would be the 18th largest economy in the world, she added.
She further said it had been estimated that 58pc of all those living with dementia resided in low and middle income countries, a proportion that is anticipated to rise to 68pc by 2050, driven mainly by population growth and an ageing global population.
Dr, Yasmin said the updated estimates were based on a new research led by Professor Martin Prince from King’s College London’s Global Observatory for Ageing and Dementia Care.
She said the report called for a specific global work stream from all stakeholders focused on assisting low income countries such as Pakistan to develop programmes to raise awareness and improve access to early diagnosis and care.
Alzheimer’s Pakistan Secretary General Dr Hussain Jafri said: “The rising global cost of dementia will pose serious challenges to health and social care systems globally, including Pakistan. These findings demonstrate the urgent need for the government to implement policies and legislation to provide a better quality of life for Alzheimer’s, both now and in the future.”
Dr Yasmin said Alzheimer’s Pakistan announced to celebrate September as World Alzheimer’s Month by organising a number of events to create awareness about the health issue and related dementias.
