DEMENTIA will cost Australia more than $14 billion this year alone as the number of people with the condition soars.
This and other shocking figures are contained in a report commissioned by Alzheimer's Australia which predicts that within the next eight years the cost will blow out by a further four billion.
There are now more than 400,000 people with dementia in Australia and this year a further 244 new cases will be diagnosed each day. This will grow to 318 people per day by 2025 and 650 people per day by 2056 when it is estimated there will be 1.1 million people with the condition, costing the community more than $36 billion a year.
However the report The Economic Cost of Dementia in Australia 2016-2056 found that just a five per cent reduction in the number of people with dementia over the age of 65 could lead to savings of $5.7 billion from 2016-25, and a staggering $120.4 billion by 2056.
Alzheimer's Australia National President Graeme Samuel said the figures contained in the report, by the University of Canberra's National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM), were alarming and a very big wake-up call and has renewed the call for a funded National Dementia Strategy to deal with the issue, along with a greater focus on risk reduction measures.
"Dementia, which is a national health priority area, is one of the major chronic diseases of this century," Professor Samuel said.
"It is already the second leading cause of death in Australia and we know that the impact is far reaching.
"Despite the social and economic impact we still do not have a fully-funded national strategy to provide better care and outcomes for people who are living with dementia now, nor are we taking risk reduction seriously in order to try to reduce the numbers of people living with dementia in the future.
"The time for action is now. If we don't do something now, the cost is going to continue to grow to unsustainable levels."
In the 2017-18 pre-budget submission to the Federal Government, Alzheimer's Australia has called for a staged approach to implementing a funded National Dementia Strategy, with immediate action on funding:
- for a more comprehensive risk reduction program to raise awareness of brain health and the links between lifestyle and health factors and the risk of developing dementia, cognitive impairment and other chronic conditions ($3 million)
- to develop a consumer-based Quality in Dementia Care program to improve aged care services, both in residential aged care and in the community ($1 million)
- to improve access to quality respite care to better support people with dementia living in the community, their families and carers ($15 million)
Deputy Director of NATSEM'S Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis Laurie Brown said the significance of these new, national dementia figures could not be under-estimated.
"What these figures show is an alarming upward trend of not only the number of people likely to be living with dementia over the next 40 years, but also the tremendous economic impact this will have on the entire Australian population. Not to mention the lasting social impact on those living with dementia, their carers and family and friends," Professor Brown said.
"The sharp rise in the number of people likely to be diagnosed with dementia in the next 40 years, and the more than doubling of current estimates on the economic costs of dementia in Australia, is largely due to the increasing number of older people in our population and the fact that Australians are living much longer. As well, we now have access to better Australian-based data on the number of people likely to have dementia now and into the future.
"A whole-of-community approach to risk reduction, and better co-ordinated care, along with a boost to research, is going to be needed if we are to curb the rise in people living with dementia by 2056."
- www.fightdementia.org.au National Dementia Helpline: 1800 100 500 An interpreter service is available.
