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