Central Data Catalog

Dementia is a costly neurodegenerative disease that affects 47 million people worldwide. This figure is predicted to rise to 75 million by 2030 and 132 million by 2050 [1]. Currently, the majority of people (approximately 63%) living with dementia are in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and due to their large rapidly ageing populations, this number is going to continue to grow. For example, the Global Health Epidemiology Reference Group (GHERG) estimated that between 1990 and 2010, China had experienced a 2.5-fold increase in the number of dementia cases, increasing the number of people living with dementia in China alone to 9.19 million, approximately one-fifth of the global dementia burden in 2010 [2].

Dementia affects not only people with the disease, but it also places tremendous health and financial pressure on families and other caregivers, as well as on the health and social care systems. The global cost of dementia is currently estimated at USD 800 billion per annum, and this is predicted to rise to USD 2 trillion by 2030 [3]. Unless effective action is taken, dementia will have significant detrimental personal, health, and socio-economic impacts worldwide. With no disease modifying treatments available, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Action Plan on the Public Health Response to Dementia emphasises developing effective, low cost, and contextually appropriate strategies for reducing risk and delaying or preventing dementia onset and progression. Such strategies have become top priorities in the global dementia agenda [4]. Another priority is the creation of dementia friendly communities, vital to ensuring that people with cognitive impairment and dementia do not become isolated.