New reports released today from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reinforce that dementia is a public health issue and a focus on preventing or delaying dementia is needed urgently.
The Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024 confirmed that dementia is the second leading cause of disease burden (4.5%) after coronary heart disease (5.5%). A new monitoring dashboard has also been released to track progress against targets of two key strategies – the National Preventive Health Strategy 2021-2030 and the National Obesity Strategy 2022-2032.
Dementia Australia CEO Professor Tanya Buchanan said despite the growing number of Australians diagnosed with dementia, it is not receiving the recognition it needs.
"Mentions of dementia are largely missing from these strategies and to date, dementia has mostly been absent from our public health collective understanding in Australia," Professor Buchanan said.
"Even though tackling these challenges would impact positively on dementia, nowhere is dementia recognised as a chronic preventable illness to the same extent as cancer or other chronic conditions.
"That's why in a 2025-26 Pre-budget submission, Dementia Australia is seeking support for a national brain health initiative to improve community understanding of dementia risk factors and to raise awareness of dementia.
"This call for a national brain health campaign is even more pertinent following the release of the 2024 update of the Lancet Commission on the prevention, treatment, and care of dementia, which reports that there are fourteen modifiable risk factors which, if addressed effectively, could reduce dementia incidence by up to 45% worldwide.
"A focus on preventing or delaying dementia is crucial – there is currently no cure for dementia and the number of Australians living with dementia is expected to double in the next 25 years without significant levels of intervention.
"Dementia Australia is committed to working with the Government to continue to support people living with dementia, their families and carers and increasing brain health awareness in our communities."
