Landmark Report Reveals Massive Global Cost of Alzheimer's: 1% of Global GDP - and Growing

LONDON, September 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- A landmark report on the Global Economic Impact of Dementia finds that Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are exacting a massive toll on the global economy, with the problem set to accelerate in coming years. The World Alzheimer Report 2010 - issued on World Alzheimer's Day by Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) - provides the most current and comprehensive global picture of the economic and social costs of the illness. The Report was jointly authored by Prof Anders Wimo of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm; and Prof Martin Prince, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London.

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"This is a wake-up call that Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are the single most significant health and social crisis of the 21st century," said Dr Daisy Acosta, Chairman of ADI. "World governments are woefully unprepared for the social and economic disruptions this disease will cause."

The Report reveals:

The worldwide costs of dementia will exceed 1% of global GDP in 2010, at US$604 billion.

    - If dementia care were a country, it would be the world's 18th largest
    economy. If it were a company, it would be the world's largest by annual
    revenue exceeding Wal-Mart and Exxon Mobil.

    - The number of people with dementia will double by 2030; more than
    triple by 2050.

    - The costs of caring for people with dementia are likely to rise even
    faster than the prevalence - especially in the developing world, as more
    formal social care systems emerge, and rising incomes lead to higher
    opportunity costs.

    - Reports from individual countries such as the UK suggest that dementia
    is one of the costliest illnesses - and yet research and investment is
    at a far lower level than for other major illnesses.

"The scale of this crisis cries out for global action," said Marc Wortmann, Executive director of ADI. "History shows that major diseases can be made manageable - and even preventable - with sufficient global awareness and the political will to make substantial investments in research and care options. Governments must make dementia a health priority and develop national plans to deal with the disease."

"This new Report gives us the clearest, most comprehensive picture yet of the global economic and social costs of dementia," said author Prof Anders Wimo.

    Contact:

    - Louise Pratt, King's College London, +44-20-78485378,
    [email protected]

    - Sarah Smith, ADI (London), +44-20-79810880, [email protected]

    - Niles Frantz, Alzheimer's Association (US), +1-312-335-5777,
    [email protected]

SOURCE Alzheimer's Disease International