UN Member States Recognise Dementia As A Leading Noncommunicable Disease

Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) has announce that dementia will, for the first time, be formally recognised within the new UN Political Declaration on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health.

This inclusion represents a pivotal shift: dementia, projected to become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2040, will now be acknowledged as a major public health and NCD priority. An important moment that reflects the voices of millions of families, advocates, and organisations across every region who have been calling for action. Following prior agreement by Member States of the declaration, we now expect a formal adoption, in about a month’s time, at the next meeting of the General Assembly

This achievement follows years of sustained advocacy by ADI, engaging with all UN Member States and key global stakeholders to secure dementia’s rightful place in the declaration. ADI looks forward to continuing our work in this area, as we translate this declaration into tangible policy change across UN Member States, in collaboration with our global network of member associations.

On the declaration ADI CEO, Paola Barbarino said:
“With this declaration, we must take this moment to unite the dementia and NCD community to hold governments accountable for addressing dementia as a leading cause of mortality and morbidity globally and take action to ensure it has a tangible impact to those living with dementia. Dementia shares so many risk factors with other leading NCDs, and with research showing that up to 45% of dementia cases could be delayed or even prevented, inclusion in this declaration brings us a big step forward, to better integrated health messaging. At the heart of this must be our drive to reduce the hugely concerning future prevalence forecasts.”

On 23 September, ahead of the high-level meeting, ADI convened global experts to explore the intersection of dementia and NCDs and to strengthen collective action. The full webinar recording is available at the link below:

At a side event to the UN General Assembly, the capacity in-person event was also broadcast online, with people from time zones straddling two days, from Australia across to Peru.

Leading panellists shared valuable insights and advice on current NCD strategies and how better to integrate dementia, and how to work collaboratively with other non-communicable diseases, through joint public health messaging, especially around risk reduction.

Here are just some of key takeaways: 

1. With research showing that up to 45% of dementia cases could be delayed or even prevented, and with many risk factors shared across multiple non-communicable diseases, it is vital that governments realise the potential for integrated healthcare messaging and awareness campaigns
2. Expert panelists from Indonesia, the Netherlands, Brazil and Costa Rica each articulated the need to better embed dementia into NCD strategies, with insights into how to important it is to train and educate health and care workforce around risk and management.
3. Alongside raising the profile of dementia as an NCD, it is vital for Alzheimer & dementia associations around the world to engage with their counterparts representing other diseases and conditions, to find ways to works together, to support each other’s advocacy and amplify awareness raising and healthcare messaging.
4. Affecting lifestyle and behavioural changes is notoriously difficult and there is much we can learn from other NCDs and to work hand-in-hand with them.