ADI is delighted to announce that after two years of dedicated and persistent advocacy by ADI, dementia will, for the first time, be formally recognised within the new UN Political Declaration on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health.
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Click on image to enlargeSource: ADI |
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.
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.Paola Barbarino, ADI CEO
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