Allied Health Professional · Neurology ·
Dementia: Most Countries Are Off Track on WHO's Targets A recent review from Al…
Dementia: Most Countries Are Off Track on WHO's Targets
A recent review from Alzheimer's Disease International, building on WHO's global dementia action plan, finds that no global target set for 2025 is currently on track to be met. Only 45 of 194 WHO member states have an operational national dementia plan.
Scale of the problem: more than 55 million people are currently estimated to be living with dementia worldwide, a figure projected to rise to around 78 million by 2030 and 139 million by 2050 as populations age.
In response, WHO's global action plan on dementia, originally set to run through 2025, has been extended, with calls from advocacy groups to push the horizon out to 2031 given how far behind most countries remain.
What this means for practice: there is still no treatment that cures or substantially slows dementia for most patients, which makes early, accurate diagnosis, risk-factor modification, and planning for care and caregiver support the most actionable levers available right now. Addressing modifiable risk factors, hearing loss, hypertension, physical inactivity, social isolation, remains one of the few interventions with reasonable evidence for delaying onset.
Source: WHO Global action plan on dementia; Alzheimer's Disease International, From Plan to Impact.