New Dementia Case Every 7 Seconds

As many countries recently brought attention to the increased need for dementia care through Dementia Awareness programs, one of the key themes was to let people know that a new dementia case is reported every seven seconds worldwide.  A staggering statistic when you also consider that there are currently 30 million people worldwide with some form of dementia.  Without a cure, that number is expected to climb to an excess of 80 million people by the year 2050!

Australia, one of 77 countries who form Alzheimer's Disease International, used the time during Dementia Awareness Month (which runs from mid Sept through Oct) to restate their priorities in those with dementia and their caregivers.  These include:

• Help improve methods of diagnosing dementia
• Expand community care and access to residential care, if needed
• Focus on increasing the pool of workers who are adequately trained in dementia care  
• Increase research dollars   

  For more information on all their initiatives, visit www.alzheimers.org.au