BENGALURU: Up to 85 per cent of the over 55 million people living with dementia may not receive post-diagnosis care, states the World Alzheimer’s Report 2022: Life after diagnosis: Navigating Treatment, Care and Support. It is co-authored by McGill University and released by Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) on the occasion of World Alzheimer’s Day (WAD) on September 21. ADI is the international federation of 105 Alzheimer and dementia associations around the world.
In India, the prevalence of dementia is also seeing a steep curve. Dementia is a chronic progressive neurological disorder that is reported as the second leading cause of total deaths due to neurological disorders in the country. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study reports an estimated 3.8 million people were living with dementia in 2019 in India, and this number is expected to rise by 197 per cent to 11.4 million by 2050.
The GBD study was conducted as part of the Strengthening Responses to Dementia in Developing Countries (STRiDE) project led by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in the UK, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans) and Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI).
India has a population of 1.3 billion and the majority (68.8 per cent as per Census 2011) resides in rural areas. It is estimated that around 10.1 per cent of the population comprised individuals aged 60 and above in 2021, and is anticipated to rise to almost 15 per cent by 2036.
The World Alzheimer’s Report has called for urgent improvements to post-diagnosis treatment, care and support services for over 55 million people living with dementia across the globe, and plans to support the forecast of 139 million people by 2050.
“We don’t question whether people with cancer need treatment, so why is it that when people receive a dementia diagnosis, they’re often not offered treatment or care? They’re just told to get their end-of-life affairs in order,” said ADI CEO Paola Barbarino. “While dementia doesn’t yet have a disease-modifying ‘cure’, there is clear evidence that appropriate post-diagnosis treatment, care and support significantly improves their quality of life.”