World Alzheimer Report 2015, The Global Impact of Dementia: An analysis of prevalence, incidence, cost and trends

for which we are very grateful. All the authors and investigators of dementia studies who provided us more specific data from their work. foreword Today, over 46 million people live with dementia worldwide, more than the population of Spain. This number is estimated to increase to 131.5 million by 2050. Dementia also has a huge economic impact. Today, the total estimated worldwide cost of dementia is US $818 billion, and it will become a trillion dollar disease by 2018. This means that if dementia care were a country, it would be the world's 18th largest economy, more than the market values of companies such as Apple (US$ 742 billion), Google (US$ 368 billion) and Exxon (US$ 357 billion). In many parts of the world, there is a growing awareness of dementia, but across the globe it remains the case that a diagnosis of dementia can bring with it stigma and social isolation. Today, we estimate that 94% of people living with dementia in low and middle income countries are cared for at home. These are regions where health and care systems often provide limited or no support to people living with dementia or to their families. The 2015 World Alzheimer Report updates data on the prevalence, incidence, cost and trends of dementia worldwide. It also estimates how these numbers will increase in the future, leaving us with no doubt that dementia, including Alzheimer's disease and other causes, is one of the biggest global public health and social care challenges facing people today and in the future. The two organisations we lead are ADI, the only worldwide federation of Alzheimer associations and global voice on dementia, and Bupa, a purpose-driven global health and care company that is the leading international provider of specialist dementia care, caring for around 60,000 people living with dementia each year. Together, we are committed to ensuring that dementia becomes an international health priority. We believe national dementia plans are the first step towards ensuring all countries are equipped to enable people to live well with dementia, and help to reduce the risk of dementia for future generations. There is now a growing list of countries which have such provision in place or which are developing national dementia plans, but it's not enough. Given the epidemic scale of dementia, with no known cure on the horizon, and with a global ageing population, we're calling on governments and …