The rising prevalence of dementia is a global emergency
It requires more research, better provision for long-term care and changes in individual behaviour
OF ALL THE troubles facing the world, the rising prevalence of dementia might seem among the less pressing. The reason behind it—longer lifespans—is to be cheered; it does not advance at the speed of a viral infection but with the ponderous inevitability of demographic change; and its full effects will not be felt until far into the future. But the reality is very different. As our special report this week makes clear, dementia is already a global emergency. Even now, more people live with it than can be looked after humanely. No cure is in the offing. And no society has devised a sustainable way to provide and pay for the care that people with it will need.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “The forgotten problem”
From the August 29th 2020 edition
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