{"id":9233,"date":"2012-04-11T13:55:50","date_gmt":"2012-04-11T19:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=9233"},"modified":"2012-08-07T17:31:41","modified_gmt":"2012-08-07T23:31:41","slug":"every-4-seconds-a-new-case-of-dementia-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/11\/every-4-seconds-a-new-case-of-dementia-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Every 4 seconds, a New Case of Dementia in the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"World<\/a><\/h3>\n

Dementia and Alzheimer’s a Global Health Priority<\/h3>\n

This is from a new study from the World Health Organization<\/a>, drugstore<\/a> WHO, click<\/a> that today declared Dementia and it’s most common form Alzheimer’s a global health crisis. Hopefully this will rally efforts around the world to find improved early detection, ments and a cure.<\/p>\n

Worldwide, nearly 35.6 million people live with dementia. This number is expected to double by 2030 (65.7 million) and more than triple by 2050 (115.4 million). Dementia affects people in all countries, with more than half (58%) living in low- and middle-income countries. By 2050, this is likely to rise to more than 70%.<\/p>\n

This the entire release from Alzheimer’s Disease International:<\/a><\/p>\n

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND ALZHEIMER\u2019S DISEASE INTERNATIONAL SAY DEMENTIA MUST BE A GLOBAL HEALTH PRIORITY
\nNew Report Calls on Nations to Recognise Dementia as a Public Health Crisis<\/p>\n

Geneva, April 11, 2012 \u2013 A report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Alzheimer\u2019s Disease International (ADI) calls upon governments, policymakers and other stakeholders to make dementia a global public health priority. This new report provides the most authoritative overview of the impact of dementia worldwide. In addition to valuable practices and practical case studies from around the world, it contains the most comprehensive collection of data, including hard-to-get statistics from low- and middle-income countries, thereby dramatically underscoring that this is truly a global problem and not just a \u201cdisease of the industrial world.\u201d<\/p>\n

To prepare the report, titled \u201cDementia: A Public Health Priority,\u201d WHO and ADI commissioned reports from four working groups of experts and sought additional inputs from nearly two dozen international contributors and more than 20 expert reviewers. The project leaders were Dr. Shekhar Saxena, Director, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO; Marc Wortmann, Executive Director, ADI; Dr. Daisy Acosta, Chairman, ADI; Prof. Martin Prince, Institute of Psychiatry, King\u2019s College London; and Ennapadam. S Krishnamoorthy, Director and T.S. Srinivasan, Chair, The Institute of Neurological Sciences, India.<\/p>\n

\u201cWHO recognises the size and complexity of the dementia challenge and urges countries to view dementia as a critical public health priority,\u201d said Dr. Saxena. \u201cRight now, only eight of 194 WHO member states have a national dementia plan in place, and a few more are in development. Our hope is that other countries will follow suit, using this report as a starting point for planning and implementation. A few, like India, have national strategies developed by civil-society organisations, and we hope this report will prompt their governments to adapt these into official national plans. Since we know the prevalence of the disease will explode in this century as we all live longer \u2013 the risk of dementia is 1 in 8 for those over 65 and a shocking 1 in 2.5 for those over 85 \u2013 its impact will become greater as the decades go by.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her foreword to the report, WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan called the report \u201ca major contribution to our understanding of dementia and its impact on individuals, families and society.\u201d\u00a0 She said the report \u201cprovides the knowledge base for a global and national response to facilitate governments, policymakers and other stakeholders to address the impact of dementia as an increasing threat to global health.\u201d Dr. Chan called upon all stakeholders to \u201cmake health and social care systems informed and responsive to this impending threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marc Wortmann of ADI underscored the urgency of action: \u201cWith its devastating impact on people with dementia, their families, their communities and national health systems, dementia represents not only a public health crisis but a social and fiscal nightmare as well.\u00a0 Around the world a new case of dementia arises every four seconds. That\u2019s a staggering growth rate, equivalent to 7.7 million new cases of dementia every year \u2013 the same size as the populations of Switzerland and Israel. Our current health systems simply cannot cope with the explosion of the dementia crisis as we all live longer; this is as much an economic and fiscal disaster waiting to happen as it is a social and health challenge of the highest order. However, the report also shows that there is a lot that can be done to improve the lives of people with dementia and their carers. The entire dementia community, and indeed the world, owes a huge debt of gratitude to the WHO to have taken the leadership in the creation of the report. The WHO is the singular organisation globally capable of such a critical role in matters of public health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Publication of the WHO\/ADI report comes on the heels of an impassioned plea for action by global public health expert Prof. Peter Piot who, as former UNAIDS Executive Director, helped lead the world in turning HIV\/AIDS from a certain death sentence into a manageable illness. In a recent speech, Prof. Piot described dementia \u2013 and Alzheimer\u2019s disease in particular \u2013 as a \u201cticking time bomb\u201d given the rapid growth in aging populations worldwide. According to ADI research, now given even further legitimacy in the WHO\u2019s report, the number of people living with dementia worldwide, estimated at 35.6 million in 2010, is set to nearly double every 20 years, reaching 65.7 million in 2030 and 115.4 million in 2050. Drawing striking parallels between dementia today and HIV\/AIDS in the 1980s, Prof. Piot argued that the world must tackle dementia with a similar level of urgency and concerted resources. \u201cIf the world needed a wake-up call, it is on this global crisis. I do not see any alternative than to Alzheimer\u2019s with at least the attention we gave HIV\/AIDs,\u201d said Piot.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven these numbers,\u201d said Michael Hodin, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Global Coalition on Aging and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, \u201cAlzheimer\u2019s, among all non-communicable diseases, demands our urgent and serious focus. We must find the political will and accompanying funding for more effective ments, earlier detection and , and most critically prevention and cures. Absent this level and scope of attention, Alzheimer\u2019s will surely become the fiscal nightmare of the 21st century, quite apart from the personal, family and community devastation it causes in its wake.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an increasing body of evidence that the risk factors that can increase a person\u2019s chances of developing Alzheimer\u2019s disease are the same as those that cause many other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and lung disease,\u201d says Ann Keeling, Chair of The NCD Alliance and Chief Executive of the International Diabetes Federation. \u201cLast year\u2019s UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs in New York formally recognised that mental and neurological disorders, including Alzheimer\u2019s disease, contribute significantly to the NCD burden worldwide. By working together to address these common risk factors, the global health community can make great inroads into the burden of disease caused by Alzheimer\u2019s disease and these other NCDs, that together cause 3 in 5 of all deaths worldwide today.\u201d<\/p>\n

KEY MESSAGES FROM DEMENTIA: A PUBLIC HEALTH PRIORITY<\/p>\n