WHO says dementia cases worldwide will triple by 2050
(April 13, 2012) Cases of dementia, and the heavy social and financial burdens associated
with them, are set to soar in the coming decades as life expectancy and medical care
improve in poorer countries, the World Health Organization, WHO, says. Some 35.6
million people were living with dementia in 2010, but that figure is set to double
to 65.7 million by 2030, the U.N. health agency said Wednesday. In 2050, it expects
dementia cases to triple to 115.4 million. “The numbers are already large and are
increasing rather rapidly,” said Dr. Shekhar Saxena, the head of WHO's mental health
division. Dementia, a brain illness that affects memory, behaviour and the ability
to perform even common tasks, affects mostly older people. About 70 percent of cases
are believed to be caused by Alzheimer's. Most dementia patients are cared for by
relatives who shoulder the bulk of the current estimated annual cost of $604 billion.
And the financial burden is expected to rise even faster than the number of cases,
WHO said in its first substantial report on the issue. “The catastrophic cost drives
millions of households below the poverty line,'' warned the agency's director-general,
Margaret Chan. In the last few decades, dementia has become a major public health
issue in rich countries. But with populations in poor and middle-income countries
projected to grow and age rapidly over the coming decades, WHO appealed for greater
public awareness and better support programs everywhere. The share of cases in poor
and middle-income countries is expected to rise from just under 60 percent today,
to over 70 percent by 2050. So far, only eight countries, including Britain, France
and Japan, have national programmes to address dementia, WHO said. Several others,
such as the United States, have plans at the state level. While the report shies away
from making specific recommendations to policy makers, it does urge them to address
the challenges of dementia as soon as possible. Emerging economies such as China,
India and Brazil, for example, have functioning health care systems but don't have
the capacity to deal with the massive rise in dementia, said Saxena. Ensuring doctors
and nurses can spot symptoms is a start because lack of proper diagnosis is one of
the obstacles to better treatment, he said. Even in rich countries, more than half
of dementia cases are overlooked until the disease has reached a late stage, according
to the report. One common misconception is that dementia is inevitable.