WISH officials and delegates at the meeting on dementia held at the Hamad Medical City.
The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) hosted a meeting where a select group of delegates discussed strategies to improve the care and monitoring of those suffering from dementia.
Officials from the World Health Organisation (WHO) provided secretariat support to the meeting, which was held at the Hamad Medical City, said a press release.
The meeting was an opportunity for regional dementia leaders to share their successes and challenges in tackling a growing public health concern for the Middle East. According to the WHO, the number of people with the condition is expected to almost double in the region by 2030 to 4.4 million people.
Seventy delegates attended the meeting, representing 10 states from the Eastern Mediterranean Region of the WHO, as well as experts from 15 other countries. Qatar’s National Dementia Stakeholder Forum was represented, as were the Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corporation, and Primary Health Care Corporation.
Other interested parties from civil society and academia also contributed to the discussion. Participants made a commitment to strengthen the response to dementia by developing better national policies and programmes.
The meeting focused on how the development of coordinated regional and country-level action can improve the care and monitoring of dementia. There was a particular emphasis on the need for greater awareness, the need to address stigma, and the importance of research and innovation in strengthening policies.
The meeting included discussion of the WHO’s Global Action Plan on the Public Health Response to Dementia, which is due to be implemented in 2017. Participating countries also shared their initial experiences with the WHO’s Global Dementia Observatory (GDO), an initiative designed to collect data on dementia worldwide and to support improvement of national policies.
Qatar has played an important role in shaping the programme, as one of only two pilot countries in the region. WISH has supported Qatar’s GDO participation with advice and resources, and is part of the National Dementia Stakeholder Forum.
Egbert Schillings, Chief Executive Officer of WISH, said: “Qatar has taken a leadership role regionally on the issue of dementia by choosing to be a pilot country in the WHO’s Global Dementia Observatory. It involves understanding the true prevalence of this devastating condition in the national population, its impact on caregivers and the community, and helping prepare the healthcare system so it can meet this rapidly growing challenge. For WISH, dementia has been a focus area since our landmark 2015 report and we are proud to support local leaders in getting ahead of the curve.”
The meeting encouraged ministerial action to improve dementia care and service by drawing upon global experience. By raising awareness of the disease, the meeting also enabled closer collaboration nationally and internationally.
Last month, WISH and Hamad Medical Corporation organised a local community engagement event to raise awareness about the global problem of dementia in Qatar.
