Addressing the Global Challenge of Alzheimer
The economic and social impact of chronic brain disorders (CBD) such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases will become the number one public-health problem worldwide, directly affecting 100 million people by 2050
The economic and social impact of chronic brain disorders (CBD) such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases will become the number one public-health problem worldwide, directly affecting 100 million people by 2050. On-going demographic trends, namely ageing populations worldwide, are leading to the unprecedented expansion of consumer demand for healthcare services. Healthcare systems worldwide will soon confront a serious crisis as a result of significant growth of the healthcare market, in a climate of shrinking resources. Such disorders impact not only the health sector but also prevent people from leading fulfilling and productive lives and making their full contribution to the economy and society.
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is one of a number of ageing-related chronic conditions that will place an enormous burden on healthcare systems because of the need for prolonged care and the resultant high consumption of resources. Thus, focusing on the management of AD as a proxy for the larger problem offers a test case for approaching the complex challenges that need to be addressed, including scientific and clinical research, technology development, care delivery, public policy, insurance and other financial issues, and psychosocial burdens to caregivers.
Following three decades of effort to understand the working of the brain and the reasons behind neurodegenerative diseases, the international scientific community is supportive of the efforts to strategically focus global actions to discover and develop more effective treatments to address the global challenge of AD. They believe that a broad spectrum of interventions to reduce the prevalence of disability – by delaying the onset of symptoms, or modifying the progression of the disease, or (eventually) preventing the disease – could be achieved through concerted collaborative effort within a decade. However, numerous scientific, administrative, regulatory, infrastructure and financial obstacles must be overcome within the next decade to make this vision a reality.
The report concludes by proposing a roadmap for action for OECD countries to consider. It lays out the critical issues to be considered in developing a multi-national plan to tackle the global challenge of this and other neurodegenerative disease, i.e.:
- Harmonising the development of international R&D resources and capabilities;
- Facilitating the process of technology transfer – knowledge mobilisation to discover-validate early markers of AD;
- Establishing a framework for ‘Public-Private Partnerships’ for collaborative R&D projects; and
- Creating new model(s) for the governance and financing of multinational collaborative research
- and development actions.
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