Dementia Epidemic; 47 Million People Worldwide have Dementia

Health researchers say there are now almost 47 million people living with dementia globally, up from 35 million in 2009.

Dementia risk reduction should be a priority for the World Health Organization, it mentioned.

As the world gets older, the number of people with dementia is set to increase exponentially, notes the World Alzheimer Report 2015, produced by Alzheimer’s Disease worldwide. The Western Europe figures are an average of the prevalence from all the studies conducted in the region.

The report’s figures include significant increases in medical costs, residential and nursing home care costs, and costs of informal, unpaid, care.

“This report illustrates it is time to take global action against dementia and we have a role to play in Australia to reduce the increasing prevalence on a global scale”.

The number of people with dementia is likely to rise with an increase in aging populations and with the identification of more cases. That number – which is larger than the population of Spain – will nearly double every 20 years, reaching 131.5 million in 2050, the report says.

In 2015 alone, there will be about 10 million new cases, one every few seconds and almost 30 percent more than in 2010. The report showed that in 2015, East Asia is the world region with the most people living with dementia (9.8 million), followed by Western Europe (7.4 million).

Its chief executive, Jeremy Hughes, said: “This new research exposes the staggering financial and human impact of dementia”.

The projected costs for care of people with dementia will also grow. Yet we also know that other risk factors, such as diabetes, are increasing.

“In recent years world leaders have united in their aim to tackle dementia, but while increases in research investment have been welcome, funding is still low in proportion to the scale of the challenge”.

In light of the findings, the report calls for a specific global workstream from all stakeholders focused on assisting LMICs to develop programmes to raise awareness and improve access to early diagnosis and care. The investment, they say, should be balanced between prevention, treatment, care and cure.