Africa can harness community care, traditional health, exercise and digital tools to treat dementia as its population ages, according to experts on the second day of Nature’s “Future of Dementia in Africa” conference,.

The conference, the first of its kind in Africa, was presented in conjunction with the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative and Aga Khan University and ran from 11-12 September in Nairobi.

The Inaugural Conference on Brain Health and Dementia has set the stage for crucial discussions on addressing the continent's growing dementia crisis.

Hosted by Aga Khan University’s Brain & Mind Institute in collaboration with The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) and Nature Conferences, this landmark event brings together global experts to tackle pressing issues in dementia research and care.

Africa faces unique challenges in addressing dementia, including limited resources, varying levels of healthcare infrastructure, and a need for greater awareness and education. These were the sentiments echoed during the opening ceremony of the inaugural conference on brain health and dementia.

Watch the full video on KTN News.

Dementia is becoming a growing public health challenge around the world, with an estimated 150 million people expected to be living with the disease by 2050.

Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative Founding Chairman George Vradenburg said that in sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 2.13 million people were living with dementia by 2015, and this number is expected to increase to 3.48 million by 2030 and 7.62 million by 2050.

Kenya lacks resources, including varying levels of healthcare infrastructure, and has a need for greater awareness and education on the condition. 

At the recent Nature Conference held in Nairobi, George Vrandenburg, the founding chairman of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative, emphasized the urgent need for advancing Alzheimer’s research in Africa.

Regions of the genome associated with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in African populations will be presented at the Future of Dementia in Africa conference on September 11-12, 2024. The studies highlight discrepancies compared to Caucasian populations and underscore that a lack of diversity in genomic studies potentially limits the effectiveness of targeted therapies across diverse populations.

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“Dementia is a health, financial and social problem of almost unimaginable proportions,” said George Vradenburg, founding chairman of the board of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC). “It may prove to be the sinkhole of the 21st Century.”

Dementia could become one of Africa’s biggest health crises unless urgent interventions are introduced to counter the continent’s disproportionate incidence of the 14 changeable risk factors.

The conference will address key challenges and share latest research on the epidemiology of dementia, including contributing risk factors, genetic advances, clinical trials, early detection, and diagnosis, emphasizing the importance of brain health throughout the lifespan.

The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) earned about a dozen significant media placements between July 26 and Aug. 7, with the bulk of coverage centered on DAC’s presentations at AAIC and some additional coverage on DAC’s recent initiatives in Africa.

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“PET scans can cost thousands of dollars and are often only available at large academic medical centers, and patients can be hesitant to do spinal taps,” said George Vradenburg, Founding Chairman of the Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative.

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