The third millennium epidemic. Are we ready to face it?The conference on this subject under the heading SK PRES is held in Bratislava today. The event under the auspices of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic focused on scientific challenges in the field of dementia, prevention strategies within the EU Member States, discussion on the European research programme and also action and national plans to combat Alzheimer's disease. The Ministry of Health has developed a strategy for long-term health care, in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family. As Alzheimer's patients require long-term care, addressing this issue will be part of this strategy. said the Minister of Health of the Slovak Republic Tomáš Drucker. The prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of dementia, particularly Alzheimer's, is also part of the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU. SK PRES aims to increase the importance of preventing chronic non-communicable diseases, which are responsible for 86% of all deaths in Europe. They affect more than 80% of people over 65 and represent a major challenge for health and social systems. In addition to Alzheimer's disease, these are cardiovascular, cancer, respiratory diseases and also diabetes. Worldwide, 36 million people die from chronic diseases each year. Miroslav Mikolášik, Member of the European Parliament, opened the conference. Among the speakers is a representative of the European Commission and other guests from Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and Scotland, including Slovak scientist Prof. MUDr. Michal Novák, DrSc., who is one of the most important experts in Alzheimer's disease in the world. It is the founder and director of the Neuroimunological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences as well as the National Centre for Molecular Engineering and Biotechnology. We cannot cure the disease yet, but we can treat it and slow it down significantly. We can also genetically identify the risk factors that trigger and accelerate it. The good news is that we can care for the brain affected by this disease. So that his performance decreases as little as possible, says prof. Novák, who in May this year won the WHO Award for Health Care Research on Elders and Health Promotion 2016. According to WHO data, more than 35% of the European population face different types of nervous system disorder. The cost of healthcare for these patients reached almost €800 billion worldwide in 2010. Today
24 million people are already registered in the world, with more than 4 and a half million new cases a year. In developed lands, the number of sick is expected to increase by one hundred percent by 2040 while in developing countries, up to 300 percent. In Slovakia 2330 new cases of Alzheimer's disease were diagnosed last year, according to the National Health Information Centre. A total of over 10,000 people suffer from this disease, of which approximately 6,000 women and 4,000 men.
