By LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporter

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

SOME 2,000 people are living with dementia in The Bahamas, with the number expected to increase to more than 6,000 in the next 27 years, according to the Bahamas Alzheimer’s Association.

Wendyi Poitier, president of the Bahamas Alzheimer’s Association, spoke to The Tribune about how the illness has affected Bahamians as the organisation prepares to mark World Alzheimer’s Day on September 21.

Alzheimer’s, the most common type of dementia, is a degenerative brain disease marked by symptoms of changes in memory, thinking and reasoning skills.

“Right now, we know that there are about 2000 people who are living with dementia throughout The Bahamas,” Ms Poitier said. “We have over 2000, and we anticipate that this will increase to over 6000 by the year 2050. That is if we don’t take action. If we take action, hopefully, it will be reduced worldwide.”

She said various factors put Bahamians at risk for dementia, including obesity, less education, physical inactivity, hypertension, diabetes, infrequent social contact, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, hearing impairments, depression, head injury and air pollution.

“Those are the types of things, we say that individuals can take action for themselves, but then we say things like air pollution, less education because we know that those persons who have a lower level of education, these are some of the risk factors that they have determined for persons getting dementia,” she said.

Ms Poitier said while most of the risk factors can be dealt with personally, the government is responsible for following through with a National Dementia Plan as promised in 2017.

“In 2017, The Bahamas, as part of the World Health Organisation (WHO), signed on to the convention to initiate a National Dementia Plan, along with many other countries worldwide,” she said. “Unfortunately, we have not started on that as yet, so that’s one of the things we’re trying to encourage our government to do. You signed on to say that you’re going to do it, now please go ahead and try and see if you could at least get it started.

“We know that that will assist in ensuring that these types of things are addressed,” she said.

The Bahamas Alzheimer’s Association is a nonprofit organisation focused on awareness and support for those with Alzheimers or Dementia. The association, founded in 2020, became a member of Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) in 2023.

The association will host a candlelight vigil on Wednesday in honour of World Alzheimer’s Day. A family game night and karaoke event will be held two days later on September 23.