Next week, a G8 summit will be held in London. Agenda of this “group of eight”, a group of discussion and economic partnership bringing together the United States, Japan, Russia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom: call for coordinated global efforts in the fight against dementia. Because the figures from the health authorities are frightening: cases of dementia increased by 22% over the past three years and 44 million people worldwide suffer from a significant loss of cognitive abilities.
“It’s a global epidemic and it’s only getting worse. If we look to the future, we see that the number of elderly people will increase dramatically. By 2050, the number of people with some form of impaired brain function will triple,” said Marc Wortmann, executive director of Alzheimer Disease International. “It is vital that the World Health Organization makes dementia a priority, so that the world is prepared to deal with this situation.”
The G8 Dementia Summit is expected to focus on issues such as investment and innovation for dementia research, improving prevention and treatment of different forms of the disease (Alzheimer’s disease being the most frequent of them) or help to improve the quality of life of people with dementia.
Dementia is not a specific disease: behind this term hides a range of diseases and symptoms associated with reduced memory and reduced ability to perform various daily activities. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for about 70-80% of dementia cases.
