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Our CEO Klaus Zimmermann was recently invited to attend the Alzheimer’s Disease International 21st Asia Pacific Regional Conference held in Kuala Lumpur, 16th-18th August 2019.
In Malaysia, the approximate 123,000 persons with dementia amounts to a total healthcare cost of US$175 million/year (Dementia in Asia Pacific Region, ADI Report, 2014). This healthcare expenditure does not take into account the personal experiences of persons with dementia and families who are dealing with the challenges of the disease everyday.
With this as the background and to achieve continuity in Alzheimer’s Disease International efforts and focus on dementia the theme of the 21st Asia Pacific Regional Conference was: Dementia: A Life-Cycle Approach II – Care, Educate, Prevent.
At the conference, Klaus presented two papers.
The first was the research findings for CommonAge conducted by The University of Oxford.
Launched in 2017, this is the first study of its kind designed to examine ageing across the Commonwealth and will provide a baseline against which future progress and development can be measured and regularly reported at future Commonwealth summits.
More about this research paper and details of how to download it for free can be found by clicking here.
The second paper was on the wellness program underway at Southern Cross Care SA/NT in Australia highlighting the benefits to residents in participating in a wellness program focusing on physical, mental, psychological and social wellbeing.
In addition, Klaus was part of a panel discussion with Glenn Rees, Chairman, Alzheimer’s Disease International, Martin Vandendyck, World Health Organization, Sean Mangion, Head Of Secretariat at Parliamentary Secretariat for Persons with Disability & Active Ageing, Government of Malta, Chris Humphrey, Director of Production, A+E NETWORKS ASIA, and Melissa Chan, Head of Community and Outreach at Homage and Founder of Project We Forget.
Whilst at the conference, Klaus had the opportunity to be interviewed by a health network TV where he was able to discuss why CommonAge was formed and its aspirations and goals.
“The conference was well attended by many professionals including many from outside of Malaysia,” says Klaus. “The content was inspiring, technical, detailed and well researched.”
Whilst there is still no cure for dementia and the older population as a share of the whole population will continue to grow very quickly over the coming decades so will the number of people who have dementia.
On current rates, one new person is diagnosed with dementia every 3 seconds.
“A major theme from the conference was ongoing research, medications for people with dementia and ongoing training to professionals and the community in dealing with this major health issue,” says Klaus.
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