Central to this year's World Alzheimer's Day campaign is the active participation of people with dementia

From Australia to Alaska, thousands of people will gather in countries around the world on Tuesday 21 September to mark World Alzheimer's Day and urge their governments to make dementia a higher healthcare priority.

This year's World Alzheimer's Day 'No time to lose' campaign, coordinated by Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI), comes in response to findings from the recent pan-European Facing Dementia Survey in which 87% of carers and 71% of physicians felt their governments do not invest enough in treating dementia.

Stephen DeKosky, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology and Director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Pittsburgh said, 'Presently, there are an estimated 18 million people around the world with dementia; 4.5 million of whom live in the US. We know that the number of people with dementia is set to almost double to 34 million over the next 25 years. Although much of this increase will be in rapidly developing and heavily populated regions, we estimate there will be 7.7 million people with dementia in the US by 2030.'

ADI is calling governments to recognise the challenges of an ageing population by providing better support services.

Elizabeth Rimmer, ADI's executive director, said 'Dementia is an expensive disease and costs American business approximately US$61 billion per year, yet federal government estimates only spending about US$640 million for dementia research in fiscal year 2003. We have written to health ministers in 192 countries alerting them to the enormous economic consequences as the population ages rapidly. We are facing a dementia epidemic and there is no time to lose.'

Central to this year's World Alzheimer's Day campaign is the active participation of people with dementia. Lynn Jackson, president of the Dementia Advocacy Support Network International, said 'As a person diagnosed with dementia I definitely feel there is 'no time to lose'. There may not be time to help find a cure for my disease at this point but I would like to see that there is help for other people who are coming along after me.'

Alzheimer associations throughout the world will bring dementia to the attention of their governments. People with dementia, carers, family members, staff and volunteers of Alzheimer associations, medical professionals and researchers will be participating in national Memory Walks, parliamentary debates, public forums and street leafleting campaigns. ADI will host an 'international' reception at the House of Commons in London, UK.