Ageing population still the biggest risk to our health system

I’ve been overwhelmed by the comments I’ve received about leaving Alzheimers NZ after 14 years – thanks everyone who has been in touch.

That decision has prompted me to reflect on the current state of play and the sheer number of people struggling with the lack of support available.

I wasn’t surprised to read recently about the impact of Long Covid. Several parts struck a chord with me as I’m sure they did for many others who live with progressive health conditions in Aotearoa New Zealand.

I know the same issues affect all chronic and progressive conditions – we’re underfunded, services are hard to access and we’re not seen as part of the core health system.

Not dealing with these issues has been the strategy in health for decades, and now we’re seeing the impact with inundated ambulance services, backed up emergency departments and full hospital beds.

And despite our best efforts we have seen no real, material change so people living with dementia mate wareware get the help and support they desperately need.

Community-based dementia services provide as much critical support for people living with dementia mate wareware, their whānau and care partners as they can.

Local services are struggling financially and only able to support a small fraction of the people within their community that need help.

Budget 2026 was an opportunity to start to address these issues. And it wasn’t taken, so what now?

It’s left for the next government and future generations to deal with – and will only get harder as the system fails further behind and the numbers of whānau left to struggle alone without support grows.

As a result, as well as overwhelming the health system many will likely experience faster cognitive decline than they would have otherwise what was necessary.

So investing in the woefully underfunded Alzheimers and Dementia services is a no brainer, so is population-based risk reduction which could reduce the number of people with dementia in future.

But for this to happen, Government needs to act. Aotearoa New Zealand needs to take a holistic view of the country’s health and aged care systems. We can all do our bit but government can do so much more.

The ageing population is not a matter for the future.  It’s here now and the system is failing – we all know it can’t meet the current demand let alone what will be needed in coming decades.

We have nearly 40,000 people not getting the specialist community dementia support they need from their local Alzheimers or Dementia organisation, and people having to travel outside of where they live just to get a rest home bed.

So, we continue with the fight for better services for people living with dementia mate wareware and families continue to struggle to do their bit. And we all need your help too! Please help us make the case for action.

Our position papers to outline what we want political parties to act on in the lead up to the General Election 2026.

We also have easy talking points to support your conversations whether with friends and whānau or MPs and media. Every conversations counts.

Dementia and other chronic health conditions can no longer be ignored by Government. Our entire health system is at risk.