Alzheimer's today

The demand for progress

The emotional impact of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) on patients and their families is uniformly devastating. Patients face increasing isolation, loss of emotional contact with loved ones and loss of everyday personal and professional competencies. Families become consumed by the responsibilities, sacrifices, stresses and financial burden of full-time care. The financial impact to families and the broader community is monumental and growing.

Prevalence and
societal impact

As the world’s population ages, the prevalence of the disease is predicted to reach epidemic proportions. Alzheimer’s Disease International estimates there to be more than 55 million people currently living with AD and that this will increase to 78 million by 2030 and to 139 million by 2050¹. 

Left unchecked, the disease could not only devastate the lives of patients, families and caregivers but also have a major financial impact on public healthcare systems across the world.

The rising cost
of Alzheimer’s

The picture in the UK is typical of advanced economies. Alzheimer’s Research UK states that the cost of dementia in the UK was estimated at £25 billion in 2021, a figure that’s expected to increase by over 95% by 2050, to £47 billion. In addition, an estimated 1.1 billion hours are spent each year on unpaid care for people living with dementia, amounting to £10.2bn of informal care³.