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Saturday 26 May RNW - NEWS AND ANALYSIS FROM THE NETHERLANDS IN 10 LANGUAGES, WORLDWIDE 24/7 ON RADIO, TV AND ONLINE

Number of Dutch dementia patients doubles

Published on 20 September 2010 - 10:14am
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The number of people suffering from dementia in the Netherlands has doubled to half a million in 40 years. The costs have also doubled from 7.5 billion euros to around 15 billion according to the World Alzheimer Report 2010.

A spokesperson for Alzheimer Netherlands told daily newspaper de Volkskrant, “Almost all forms of dementia are age related. As people are living longer, almost all forms of dementia are increasing too.”

The organisation says four out of five carers are overworked and should be given professional assistance to relieve the stress.

“Carers are seriously overworked. They would be able to carry on for longer if they received practical and emotional support. In turn that would mean patients with dementia would not end up in hospital prematurely…Giving carers support would save 7-10 percent in costs,” Alzheimer Netherlands managing director Gea Broekema told de Volkskrant.

Employers should also take the needs of employees who care for family members into consideration. “One in eight employees cares for a sick relative at home. Most employers are not aware of this. While it does not take a lot to help carers combine their jobs and caring. It would already make a difference if employers spoke to their staff, were flexible and allowed them to work from home now and then.”

On Tuesday, World Alzheimer Day, the World Alzheimer Report will be presented to the international community. The report has been presented a day earlier in the Netherlands because Tuesday is Budget Day.

Discussion

Hiram2 20 September 2010 - 6:57pm

"The number of people suffering from dementia in the Netherlands has doubled to half a million in 40 years. The costs have also doubled from 7.5 billion euros to around 15 billion according to the World Alzheimer Report 2010."........First, it is all about money ( Also "The report has been presented a day earlier in the Netherlands because Tuesday is Budget Day.". Second, it is about how the Carers are seriously overworked. I wonder what is next for those .5 million people? Let me see if I got it correct. You have a half million citizens who worked their entire lives, pay taxes to the Dutch government which in turn supported the thousands of immigrants with financial support, and now they are a burden to the national budget. Compassion starts at home by supporting those who supported you. If you don't support them, who is going to support you? The immigrants who don't want to work?

pieter witteveen 20 September 2010 - 5:07pm / USA

and that is not counting all the liberal politicians ruining my old country

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