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Our Briefing to the Incoming Minister of Health

Wednesday 11 November, 2020

Rapidly growing numbers of New Zealanders living with dementia threaten to overwhelm our health system unless government acts quickly. That's what we have said in our Briefing to the Incoming Minister of Health.

Our Briefing to the Incoming Minister of Health Post Cover Image

The impact of dementia is so huge it has to be considered a top health priority for government after Covid-19.

The number of New Zealanders with dementia and the economic costs of the condition are expected to triple in coming years as our population ages, effectively swamping the health system’s ability to cope.

We have urged new Health Minister Andrew Little to act on Labour’s pre-election promise to ‘work with the (dementia) sector to implement the Dementia Action Plan’.

Labour said it would focus on prevention of dementia, support for whānau to navigate support services, building community acceptance, and strengthening capability in the sector.

The harsh reality is that dementia affects nearly every New Zealand family at some point and in some way. The many tens of thousands of New Zealanders with dementia, their care partners and their families are desperate for Labour to keep its promise now it’s in a position to do so.

Current services are woefully inadequate and underfunded, and if the level of inequity and marginalisation associated with dementia occurred in any other sector of our society, there would be a public and political outcry.

Our briefing document to the Minister outlines four action areas government must address. They are:

  • Reducing the incidence of dementia
  • Supporting people to live their best possible lives
  • Building accepting and understanding communities
  • Strengthening leadership and capability across the dementia sector

These action areas are detailed in the Dementia Action Plan which the sector prepared and presented to the previous government earlier this year.

The World Health Organization is so concerned about dementia it has developed a Global Action Plan on the Public Health Response for Dementia Care 2017-2025 to hold countries to account.

For the WHO to single dementia out like this means the situation is obviously extremely serious and it’s obviously extremely urgent.

And, unless our government acts now, it’s only going to get worse as our population ages.