“It’s never too early, it’s never too late” is this year’s slogan of the month and of World Alzheimer’s Day, established in 1994 by the World Health Organization, which aims at national prevention strategies, with the identification of risk factors and their reduction, the diagnosis early and taking charge.
In numbers
Worldwide, according to data from the World Health Organization, over 55 million people live with dementia, one of the main causes of disability and non-self-sufficiency among elderly people.
A figure that is growing on a daily basis, with forecasts reaching 78 million by 2030. The WHO estimates that Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias represent the seventh cause of death in the world.
In Italy, according to estimates from the Dementia Observatory of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, approximately 1,100,000 people suffer from dementia (of which 50-60% are Alzheimer’s patients, approximately 600 thousand people) and approximately 900,000 with minor neurocognitive disorder (Mild Cognitive Impairment). Furthermore, there are approximately three million people directly or indirectly involved
National activities
In Italy, the establishment and launch of the activities envisaged by the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Fund in 2022 was the most important action in recent years on the topic of dementia in terms of public health and made it possible to carry out concrete interventions aimed at people with dementia and family members and caregivers.
The Fund has allocated 14 million and 100,000 euros for the Regions and Autonomous Provinces (PA) and 900,000 euros for the Istituto Superiore di Sanità for the execution of a series of project activities aimed at pursuing the objectives of the National Dementia Plan (PND) to be implemented in the three-year period 2021-2023.
The three-year plans drawn up by Regions and autonomous Provinces, in accordance with the indications provided for in the decree on the Fund, constitute a cultural heritage of possible prevention, diagnosis and treatment interventions for the improvement of the care of people with dementia to be disseminated and shared on the National territory.
International activities
The topic of dementia was recently at the center of the international debate during the last G7 held on 13 and 14 May 2023 in Nagasaki, Japan, in which a specific parallel event on dementia was organised. Furthermore, in the final summary document drawn up by the Ministers of Health of the participating countries, it is stated that to address the challenges associated with ageing, and dementia in particular, efforts must be made to accelerate research and development to improve health outcomes with a broad strategy that includes prevention, risk reduction, early diagnosis, diagnosis and treatment of dementia and promotion of healthy ageing.
Equally significant is the presence of the topic of dementia as the subject of one of the new Joint Actions (JAs) contained in the Work Plan – 2023 of the Program for European Union action in the field of health for the period 2021-2027 (EU4Health) which identifies the prevention and early diagnosis of neurological diseases, also addressing the stigma associated with dementia and implementing person-centred integrated care models, among the possible priority areas designed and financed jointly by the European Commission and the authorities responsible for health in the various Member countries,
These strategic actions are in line with what was expressed in the Global status report on the public health response to dementia published in 2021 by the World Health Organization. The report identifies the obstacles that are making the implementation of the Global action plan on the public health response to dementia 2017 – 2025 difficult, especially in light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, and highlights the areas in which acceleration is needed, showing that While some progress has been made, more urgent efforts are needed globally to achieve the targets set by 2025.
Some interesting advances in the care of people with dementia to be disseminated as good practices for all those involved in care have recently been described in the World Alzheimer Report 2022, dedicated to the vast topic of post-diagnosis support – i.e. that variety of official and informal services and information aimed at promoting the health, social and psychological well-being of people with dementia and their caregivers after a diagnosis of dementia.
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