Dementia: Africa’s unique opportunity for prevention amid rising cases

Global dementia rates are set to almost triple, rising from 57 million in 2019 to a projected 153 million by 2050.1 Although 60% of all people with dementia live in low and middle income countries (LMICs),2 the urgency of this looming challenge, from a condition long perceived as a “western disease,” is little acknowledged.“The main challenge that countries in Africa have is awareness raising,” says Paola Barbarino, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Disease International. “The awareness of Alzheimer’s, or any related dementia, is incredibly low.”At a World Health Organization (WHO) World Health Assembly event Barbarino met a minister of an African country by chance. She says, “He had given a speech on non-communicable diseases. I said, have you considered the fact that you don’t just have heart disease and cancer and diabetes and obesity—you also have dementia in your country? What are you doing about that? He told me, ‘We don’t…
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