Dementia cases to treble worldwide by 2050: report

The number of people living with dementia worldwide is set to treble and reach 135 million by 2050, according to a new analysis.
An Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) policy brief for the G8 Dementia Summit has revealed that the number of people living with dementia worldwide in 2013 is now estimated at 44 million, reaching 76 million in 2030 and 135 million by 2050.
The report "The Global Impact of Dementia 2013-2050" found a staggering 17 per cent increase in the number of people living with dementia, compared to the original ADI estimates in the 2009 World Alzheimer Report.
The report also predicts a shift in the distribution of the global burden of dementia.

Where previously high income countries have witnessed the strongest visible trends, it will now be low and middle income countries who will feel the heaviest burden.
By 2050, 71 per cent of people with dementia will live in low and middle income countries, ADI said in a statement.

The briefing has been released ahead of the first G8 Dementia Summit, which will take place in London, UK, next week. The summit will aim to identify and agree a new international approach to dementia research and policy.
The absence of dementia public policy renders governments woefully unprepared for the dementia epidemic and there is an urgent need for a collaborative, global action plan for governments, industry and non-profit organisations like Alzheimer associations, ADI said.

The report recommends that research must become a global priority if improvements are to be made to the quality and coverage of care, but also that priority should be given equally to policymaking, health and social care service and health system development.
"At the eve of the G8 Dementia Summit in London, UK, it is not just the G8 countries, but all nations, that must commit to a sustained increase in dementia research," Marc Wortmann, Executive Director of ADI said.