The number of dementia cases has continued to rise around the world. It’s World Alzheimer’s Day, and Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) and the Alzheimer’s Society are using today to highlight the impact that dementia continues to have on the lives of so many people. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, and the disease affects millions of people all over the world.

Alzheimer’s Disease International released their annual report today, the World Alzheimer’s Report 2010, which is aimed to raise awareness about the severe, global rise in the number of dementia cases. They estimate that there are currently over 35 million people suffering from dementia worldwide.

The report has revealed that dementia costs the world around 4 billion a year, and that figure will continue to rise as the number of dementia cases go up. ADI has suggested that there will be an 85% increase in dementia related costs by 2030, when they estimate 65.7 million people will suffer from dementia.

The majority of the costs occur in North America and Western Europe, while low income countries have little awareness of the disease. To give an idea of the impact that dementia costs are having, the ADI report compares dementia costs to companies, and even countries. If dementia were a company, it would have the world’s largest annual revenue, or if dementia were a country, it would have the 18th highest economy.

Alzheimer’s Disease International is calling on governments all over the world to make dementia a health priority and to create plans to deal with the disease. Alzheimer’s Disease International is the international federation of Alzheimer associations all over the world. The associations under their wing are all non-profit organisations.