Project Details

Dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease, is one of the most common diseases in older people. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), dementia is now one of the ten leading causes of death worldwide, and in high-income countries, it is even the second leading cause of death. According to the GBD 2019 Dementia Forecasting Collaborators, the proportion of people with dementia worldwide is estimated to rise from 57.4 million in 2019 to 152.8 million in 2050 (Lancet Public Health 2022; 7:e105–25). The reasons for the sharp increase in dementia are population growth and rising life expectancy, especially in poorer countries, but also changing lifestyle factors. A particularly sharp increase is expected in North Africa and the Middle East, but the number of cases in sub-Saharan Africa will also more than triple: from 660,000 in 2019 to more than three million in 2050.

Progressive dementia is one of the main reasons for inpatient care in many Western societies, as the effects of the disease often make it impossible to provide care at home. However, awareness of these diseases and how to deal with people with dementia is also a central and increasingly relevant issue for other societies, with many emerging and developing countries also developing an awareness of this problem. According to the WHO, more than two-thirds of all people with dementia will live in developing countries in the future. Countries in Africa are particularly affected by an increasingly ageing population, making the issue particularly relevant here, where awareness of dementia is often still low and current research findings are largely lacking. This is where the doctoral project comes in, using Ghana and Namibia as examples to analyse the stigmatisation, social exclusion and accusations of witchcraft affecting MmD from the perspective of national experts. In addition, the level of awareness of dementia and belief in witchcraft among the general public will be examined and, at the same time, the strategies used by local NGOs to improve public awareness of dementia will be analysed. The aim of the research project is to investigate and analyse public awareness of dementia in sub-Saharan Africa, using Namibia and Ghana as examples. The results of the study will be used as a basis for creating a more dementia-friendly society in sub-Saharan Africa.