With just one year remaining until the estimated completion of the Global Action Plan on the public health response to dementia, the seventh report in ADI’s ‘From Plan To Impact’ series tracks the progress of Member States towards achieving the targets of the plan. The report contains expert analysis from across the world focusing on the work being undertaken across the seven action areas. The report also highlights the pressing need for an extension to the Global Action Plan to ensure those living with dementia, carers and the wider society continue to benefit from this multilateral response.
Some of the key points of the report include:
- The number of national dementia plans (NDPs) implemented by WHO member states has stagnated since 2023, remaining at 39. This equates to 26.7 percent of the 146 target, and only a fifth of all 194 member states who agreed to implement plans in 2017. As of May 2024, 48 countries or territories (including non-WHO member states) had NDPs.
- Dementia plans across WHO member states include 20 in Europe, nine in the Americas, six in the Western Pacific, two in the Eastern Mediterranean, two in Southeast Asia, and none in Africa.
- 27 countries are currently developing an NDP or are integrating dementia within a wider health plan.
- The stagnation on the targets set by the Global action plan on dementia is disappointing, yet people living with dementia and their carers still need governments to live up to their commitments. ADI is therefore calling for WHO member states to vote unanimously for a 10-year extension of the Global action plan on dementia until 2035.
- ADI estimates that, globally, 75 percent of people with dementia are undiagnosed and up to 85 percent are not accessing post-diagnostic care. Health systems need to be able to provide a clear pathway for timely diagnosis and access to ongoing care and support, especially as new disease-modifying treatments emerge.
- Dementia care is far too often overlooked in favour of new treatments, despite being an essential pillar of the dementia response. While pharmacological treatments are incredibly important and should be made accessible to all those who might benefit from them, more means and consideration should also be given by governments to care, in order to ensure that people living with dementia and their families face the condition with the psychosocial support and compassion that they deserve.
- While many actors in the private, non-governmental, and community-level sectors spare no efforts every day to address the many facets of dementia – from risk reduction to diagnosis, treatment, care, support, and research – experts agree: national dementia plans and policies can multiply the impact of these initiatives. States should not sit on the sidelines of this urgent public health issue.
The creation of the Global action plan on the public health response to dementia reinvigorated efforts to have the condition be taken seriously by governments across the world. By its very existence, it affirmed the first of its action areas: dementia is a public health priority. It is therefore essential that Member States agree to a 10-year extension to the Global Action Plan so that this work can continue.