WORLD ALZHEIMER'S DAY

• Dementia is a term used to describe different brain disorders that affect memory, thinking, behaviour and emotion.
• Early symptoms of dementia can include memory loss, difficultly performing familiar tasks, problems with language and changes in personality. View theearly symptoms.
• There is currently no cure for dementia, but a range of support is available for people with dementia and their carers.
• Dementia knows no social, economic, or ethnic boundaries.
• Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia. Other causes include vascular disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and fronto-temporal dementia.
• There are currently estimated to be over 46 million people worldwide living with dementia. The number of people affected is set to rise to over 131 million by 2050.
• There is one new case of dementia worldwide every three seconds.
• The worldwide costs of dementia are estimated at US$818 billion. As a result, if dementia care were a country, it would be the world’s 18th largest economy. If it were a company, it would be the world’s largest by annual revenue exceeding Apple (US $742 billion) and Google (US $368 billion).

Dementia is often hidden away, not spoken about, or ignored at a time when the person living with dementia and their family carers are most in need of support within their families, friendship groups and communities.

The social stigma is the consequence of a lack of knowledge about dementia and it can have numerous long- and short-term effects, including:

• Dehumanisation of the person with dementia
• Strain within families and friendships
• A lack of sufficient care for people with dementia and their carers
• A lower rate of diagnosis of dementia
• Delayed diagnosis and support

The stigmatisation of dementia is a global problem and it is clear that the less we talk about dementia, the more the stigma will grow. This World Alzheimer’s Month we encourage you to find out more and play your part in reducing the stigma and improving the lives of people with dementia and their carers in your community.

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DAY

The International Day of Peace, sometimes unofficially known as World Peace Day, is observed annually on 21 September. It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence, such as might be occasioned by a temporaryceasefire in a combat zone for humanitarian aid access. The day was first celebrated in 1982, and is kept by many nations, political groups, military groups, and peoples. In 2013, for the first time, the Day was dedicated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to peace education, the key preventive means to reduce war sustainably.

To inaugurate the day, the United Nations Peace Bell is rung at UN Headquarters (in New York City). The bell is cast from coins donated by children from all continents except Africa, and was a gift from the United Nations Association of Japan, as "a reminder of the human cost of war"; the inscription on its side reads, "Long live absolute world peace".

WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT PEACE

Sow Peace, Reap It...