HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au
Co-Director of the UNSW Sydney’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing Professor Henry Brodaty, along with a team of international researchers and clinicians, have been awarded $850,705 to contribute to the development of Vietnam’s first National Dementia Plan.
The project, which will be led by University of South Australia’s Dr Tuan Anh Nguyen, aligns with the World Health Organization’s initiative for every country to have a dementia plan to meet the burgeoning social and economic burden of the disease. The grant, “Strengthening responses to dementia: Building an evidence platform for the development of a Vietnam National Dementia Plan”, will support creation of a coherent framework to direct resources for diagnosis and care for people with dementia, their carers and families.
By 2050, over 71% of people with dementia are predicted to be living in low and middle income countries. Professor Brodaty said advancing the mental health of older people in the Asia Pacific region was critical in the face of population growth and increased living standards resulting in longer lifespan. The average lifespan in Vietnam has increased by four years to 75 in the last two decades.
“We know dementia disproportionately impacts low and middle income countries so it is a privilege to be involved in helping equip Vietnam to meet these challenges,” said Professor Brodaty.
The joint funding by the Australian National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the National Foundation for Science and Technology Development of Vietnam (NAFOSTED) will support researchers from the University of South Australia, UNSW Sydney’s CHeBA, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Sydney, University of California Davis, Hanoi Medical University and Vietnam National Geriatric Hospital to examine and strengthen Vietnam’s response to the disease at the individual, organisational and national healthcare system levels.
