In April, representatives of Alzheimer associations from twelve countries attended a briefing on the implementation of a regional plan of action on dementia in older persons held at PAHO Headquarters in Washington D.C. Dr. Dévora Kestel, PAHO/WHO Mental Health and Substance Use Unit Chief, led a debate on national and regional collaboration.
Participants represented Alzheimer associations in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Ireland, Mexico, Morocco, Russia and Spain. The group discussed the upcoming vote on WHO's "Global plan on the public health response to dementia 2017-2025" as well as the efforts of NGO within the Region to work with ministries and other governmental institutions to develop national plans on dementia, a key priority in the regional plan.
The group also discussed future collaboration opportunities within the Region, including a potential ministerial meeting during the October 2017, Alzheimer Ibero American Conference, to be held in the Dominican Republic. A similar meeting of health ministries from Central America, focused on developing national dementia plans, was held in October 2016 during the Alzheimer Ibero American conference in Costa Rica.
The briefing was the result of continued collaboration between PAHO and Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI). ADI is the international federation of Alzheimer associations around the world, in official relations with WHO. ADI's vision is prevention, care and inclusion today, and cure tomorrow.
