THE number of Singaporeans suffering from dementia will more
than double to about 45,000 by 2020, said Health Minister Khaw Boon
Wan.
Presently, 20,000 suffer from this disease, making up 5.7 per
cent among those aged 65 years and above, which is lower than the
prevalence rate in Australia (6.5 per cent), North America (6.9 per
cent) and Japan (8.5 per cent).
Replying to a question from Jurong GRC MP Halimah Yacob in
Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Khaw said that dementia is not part of
the normal ageing process as the main causes are vascular dementia
and Alzheimer's disease. The risk factors of vascular dementia are
the same as for stroke and heart disease. As such, the growing
problem must be tackled on multiple fronts.
Dr Khaw said they include prevention and efforts to promote a
healthy lifestyle from young, expanding access to dementia care,
strengthening community and caregiver respite services and ensuring
services and facilities keep up with rising demand.
He added that the Health Ministry will ramp up the number of
nursing home beds, expanding the pool trained healthcare
professionals, improving their training on geriatric medicine, and
creating more sub-specialisation.
--ST