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Dementia set to become major worldwide issue

Date published: 16/12/2005

The number of people suffering from dementia is set to exponentially rise over the next 40 years, according to a new report. The Institute of Psychiatry has warned that by 2040 there could be 81.1 million people with the disease globally, a 230 per cent increase compared to the present figure of 24.3 million.

This means that the number of people with dementia worldwide will increase by 4.6 million annually, or a new diagnosis occurring every seven seconds. The problem is even more acute in the developing world, with China, India and other Asia-Pacific countries predicted to experience a 300 per cent increase in the number of people with dementia. China itself had over five million cases in 2001, almost double levels in the US and more than the entire EU together.

Cleusa Ferri, lead author of the report, said: "The rate of increase in numbers of people with dementia is predicted to be three to four times higher in developing areas that in developed regions."

Neil Hunt, the chief executive of the Alzheimer's society has stressed the importance of government funding to threat the 250,000 people with dementia in the UK. "Dementia is becoming one of the world's biggest health problems and it is vital that the British government and those in other nations act now," he said.

"We must make sure that sufficient funding and resources are available so that people with dementia and their carers get the care and support they need."

About £4.6 billion is spent annually on treating people with dementia in the UK.

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