A new report released by the Alzheimer Society sounds the alarm about the projected economic and social costs of dementia in Canada.
According to the report, titled Rising Tide: The Impact of Dementia on Canadian Society, if current demographic trends continue, the prevalence of dementia will more than double in 30 years, with the costs increasing tenfold.
Released Jan. 4 for Alzheimer Awareness Month, the report suggests that by 2038, someone in Canada will develop dementia every two minutes, up from the current frequency of every five minutes. It suggests the associated health care costs will rise to $153-billion a year from the current $15-billion a year, and the total cumulative costs will increase to $872-billion over the next 30 years.
In Ontario during the same time period, the number of individuals living with dementia will reach 395,540, and the number of new annual cases will triple to 98,620.
The Rising Tide report also identifies possible solutions that could minimize the economic fallout of the disease. For example, figuring out how to postpone the onset of dementia by two years would save the health care system $219-billion over the 30-year period. More research is recommended to help further understand the disease and find better diagnostic methods.
