PAHO/WHO units of Mental Health and Substance Use and Healthy Life Course collaborated to organize a regional workshop on dementia in Santo Domingo, 15-16 October, 2017. The objectives pursued were: to present and discuss PAHO's Regional Strategy and Plan of Action on Dementia in Older Persons; to discuss approaches and processes to develop national dementia action plans or to integrate dementia into existing plans and policies; to present and discuss the implementation of WHO's Global Dementia Observatory; and to introduce and support the implementation of other related tools (e.g. mhGAP, iSupport, etc.).
An estimated 6.5% to 8.5% of adults over 60 in the Americas have dementia, and this number is expected to double over the next 20 years. With these rising numbers come rising costs and a heavy burden on family and caregivers. Additionally, many countries in the Region lack adequate long-term care facilities for the elderly.
Participants included Ministry of Health and medical professionals in the areas of mental health and aging from Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay. Also present were civil society representatives from across the Region, PAHO and WHO personnel, and international board members of Alzheimer's Disease International. Overall, 17 countries in the Americas were represented.
Dévora Kestel, PAHO's Mental Health and Substance Use Unit Chief, opened the meeting with an introduction to dementia in the Region. On the first day, the workshop focused on the advances of dementia plans. Presentations were delivered by Christina Alonso, Regional Advisor for Healthy Aging at PAHO; by Tarun Dua, from WHO's Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse; and by representatives of countries with existing national dementia plans who spoke about their experiences. Useful initiatives and tools to improve community-based care for those with dementia and their caregivers were addressed on the second day. The conference wrapped up with an open discussion on ways forward and next steps to follow.
