Highlights

DEMENTIA WORLDWIDE

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) dementia is the most expensive disease in the world, costing countries around the world 533 billion euros in 2011, which represents 1% of world gross domestic product.

Nevertheless, dementia researches are scarce. Vast majority of countries allocates only between 10-15% of what is spent on cardiovascular diseases and cancer research. There are still huge gaps in knowledge in terms of understanding how and why dementia develops, and how it can effectively be treated, which creates conditions for one of the most important fields of medical research.

Few facts about dementia:

• The number of people living with dementia worldwide in 2013 was at 44 million and is projected to increase to 135 million by 2050.
• The costs are estimated at more than 530 billion euros per year and are set to increase even more quickly than the prevalence.
• 71% of people living with dementia will live in low- and middle-income countries by 2050.
• Only 13 among 193 WHO (World Health Organization) member states have national dementia plan.
• A new case of dementia is diagnosed every 4 seconds somewhere in the world.
• Three out of four people living with dementia has not been diagnosed.