Dementia is emerging as a major public health issue with serious implications for social care in the future. According to a report from Alzheimer's Disease International, more than 35 million people worldwide will have dementia in 2010 and that number will nearly double every 20 years, to 65.7 million in 2030 and 115.4 million in 2050. The World Alzheimer Report 2009 , prepared by a research team from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London examines the global prevalence and impact of dementia and a detailed analysis of the challenges faced by governments and healthcare systems.
The report also includes examples of good national dementia plans and information on health service responses. In order to tackle the challenges faced by governments and healthcare systems worldwide, the report offers eight global recommendations based on the findings. Crucially:
- The World Health Organization, and governments worldwide, need to declare dementia a global health priority.
- Awareness raising is needed worldwide.
- High income countries should be aiming for comprehensive, integrated, high quality services, meeting the needs of patients and carers at all stages of the illness.
- In low and middle income countries the focus should be upon first strengthening the capacity of primary care to diagnose and treat dementia, and to provide long term advice and support to carers.
In the interests of transparency, and international scientific collaboration, all of the research documentation for the systematic review of global prevalence, including the data files with extracted study characteristics and prevalence data, will be made available on the ADI website.
