Doha: A report set to tackle the global rise in dementia and identify triggers for treatment, care and funding shows that worldwide 44 million people live with dementia and that the figure is likely to rise to 135 million people by 2050.

According to the report compiled by the Dementia Forum of the World Innovation Summit for Health (Wish) held in the Qatari capital Doha, dementia is one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people worldwide.

In 2010 the global cost of care reached an estimated $604 billion (Dh2,218 billion) worldwide, equivalent to one per cent global gross domestic product. The figure means that if dementia care were a country, it would be the world’s 18th largest economy.

The report said that global understanding of dementia lagged behind other diseases and that it was often mistaken as a normal part of ageing.

“Whilst there continues to be a social stigma surrounding dementia, the level of necessary funding will not be addressed equivalent to the need — in the US funding for HIV/Aids research is more than five times the level of that for dementia research, despite the fact there are five times as many Americans with dementia than with HIV,” the report said.

The report explores a wide range of dementia-related issues, including the current barriers and challenges to addressing dementia.

Innovative solutions include raising public awareness, care innovations, new financial models and more effective regulatory frameworks.

The report offers ten key policy recommendations for governments to consider, aimed at improving both outcomes for individuals living with dementia and for economies struggling to pay for the costs of caring for dementia.

“It is clear that there is not one simple panacea for dementia that lies just beyond our reach; rather, it will take the concerted and integrated efforts of leaders and innovators in all sectors to move the needle on this extraordinary social and economic challenge,” Ellis Rubinstein, President and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences, and Chair of the Dementia Forum at the second Wish meeting, said.

According to Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham, Executive Chair of Wish, “although the social and economic burden of dementia is clear enough today, the future costs to societies and economies will be enormous without significant intervention now to change the course of this global disease.”

Dementia is one of eight reports being presented at the 2015 Wish summit. The other issues being discussed by experts are communicating complex health messages, diabetes, delivering affordable cancer care, patient safety, universal health coverage, mental health and well-being in children, and maternal and newborn health.