Governments around the world are unprepared for an upcoming epidemic of dementia, as the number of patients is expected to triple from 44 million sufferers today to more than 135 million by the year 2050.  Health experts and campaigners are calling for an international awakening on the inevitable future.

“If we look into the future the numbers of elderly people will rise dramatically.  It's vital that the World Health Organization makes dementia a priority, so the world is ready to face this condition,” said Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) executive director Marc Wortmann.

The ADI says the global cost of dementia care is more than $600 billon, or around one percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).  But that will only increase as the population ages. 

Leaders from the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries will meet in London next week for a special summit on dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), fronto-temporal dementia and many other causes of cognitive decline.  The ADI and other activists say nations must develop plans to deal with the increase of dementia patients, and the G8 nations must boost research and development of new drugs.