Prague, Jan 13 (CTK) – The Czech Republic has some 153,000 dementia patients, which is 50,000 more than ten years ago, while care of them is markedly lagging behind advanced countries, according to the 2015 annual report by the Czech Alzheimer Society released yesteday.
Two thirds of the patients are women, the report said.
“Dementia is one of the main death causes and its incidence has been constantly growing as the population is ageing,” the report says.
A quarter-century ago, there were 79,000 persons with dementia, in 2014, some 103,000 women and 50,000 men suffered from the disease.
Experts estimate that the number of patients will rise to 183,000 in 2020 and to 383,000 in 2050.
According to the report, dementia afflicts one in 13 people over 65, one in five over 80 and every other over 90.
The report is based on expert estimates and on experts´ calculations, but its authors say precise data is lacking.
The report says the dementia incidence in the Czech Republic and other new EU countries is lower than in advanced countries.
“More advanced countries have a relatively higher incidence of the disease. As economic and social development will continue in this country, the number of patients will expectedly grow, too,” the report says.
It says the Czech Republic “is lagging behind Europe” in care. It does not have long-time care that interconnects medical and social services.
In the Czech Republic roughly 10 percent of patients receive aid, while in Germany 26 percent of the ill are assisted, in Sweden almost half of them and in Austria one third.
Experts say the care is arduous and expensive. The costs in the Czech Republic are estimated at 1 percent of GDP, which is about 43 billion crowns.
($1=24.937 crowns)
