Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan is one of the largest and most populated nations of South Asia and ranked sixth among the most crowded countries in the world, with a population exceeding 196 million. Because of a lack of research and the cultural setting, it is exceptionally hard to obtain an exact number of individuals suffering from dementia. However, the extrapolated prevalence of people with dementia in Pakistan is around 200,000. Compared to developed countries, only 4.2% of the Pakistani population are aged above 65 years, possibly due to an average life expectancy of 66 years for both genders . Although no specific data on elderly people with dementia in Pakistan are available, it is estimated that 8–10% of the general population aged above 65 years suffer from chronic memory loss. According to the latest 2014 World Health Organization data, Alzheimer’s disease/dementia-related deaths in Pakistan reached a total of 1776 or 0.16% of total deaths. Pakistan currently has the largest generation of young people ever recorded in its history, who will be at risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease by 2050, at which time, life expectancy would be expected to continue rising. Thus, the economic burden of treating patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia will increase considerably.

Memory First Aid: remote memory service and webinar-based dementia training for non-medical graduates in Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

“…Dementia is a rapidly growing public health problem affecting around 50 million people worldwide, with approximately 60% living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This figure is set to triple by 2050. International reports indicate a growing number of people with dementia in South Asian countries 1,2 (Table 1).…”