To commemorate World Alzheimer's Day, like rest of the world, Alzheimer's Pakistan in collaboration with Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) and various other organisations organized a seminars on the disease.
There are around one million people living with dementia in Pakistan but the government is not providing any services to those patients despite being a signatory to the World Health Organization's global plan on dementia.
This was stated by Alzheimer's Pakistan secretary-general Dr Hussain Jafri while speaking at World Alzheimer's Day seminar organised in collaboration with the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) at its auditorium on Saturday.
Referring this year's theme "Let's talk about Dementia", he said Pakistan owed a responsibility to create awareness about the disease, its early detection, treatment and care of dementia.
Punjab health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid acknowledged that increase in the number of dementia patients was alarming and it was time the much needed healthcare services for the elderly in the province be provided.
She announced that the Punjab health department would soon launch the provincial dementia plan. Under this plan, she said, a range of services would be provided such as hospital based memory clinics, resource mobilization for early diagnosis & treatment, counselling services to caregivers and mass awareness. Moreover, she said, a provincial Dementia Committee had been established and currently working towards establishing registry of people with Dementia at all the hospitals. She also announced the establishment of a Dementia Centre being established in collaboration with Alzheimer's Pakistan at SIMS.
Professor Dr Iracema Leroi, Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, presented a report on "Dementia Research Roadmap in Pakistan: What are the Priorities". She said the Research Roadmap prioritized research questions for dementia research in Pakistan and classified research domains that include public awareness and understanding; prevention, identification, and reduction of risk; quality of care for people with dementia and their care givers; and delivery of care and services for people with dementia and their care givers.
The health minister also launched a report on "Forgotten in Crisis: Addressing dementia in humanitarian response", co-produced by the Global Alzheimer's & Dementia Action Alliance (GADAA), Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) and Alzheimer's Pakistan.
Renowned Neuro surgeon and Executive Director of Punjab Institute of Neuro Sciences Professor Dr Khalid Mahmud suggested that for better mental growth we should go for book reading and also opt indoor games like draft and table tennis. He said that while world is observing Alzheimer Day, Pakistan is struggling to create awareness about dementia, its prevalence and support options with around one million patients suffering in the country.
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