PETALING JAYA: There is an urgent need to enhance care for senior citizens with dementia as the world’s ageing population increases.
Statistics have shown that 5% of those above the age of 60 will suffer from dementia. The number of those affected is expected to triple from about 50 million in 2018 to 152 million in 2050, according to Genting Bhd chairman and chief executive Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay.
“In Malaysia, we had 123,000 cases in 2015 and we expect this to rise to 590,000 by 2050,” he said at a conference on “Navigating Towards Healthy Ageing” here on Thursday.
In response, Genting has invested in several companies — TauRx Therapeutics Ltd, Genting TauRx Diagnostic Centre Sdn Bhd and CorTechs Labs — to support research and clinical trials on the early diagnosis and treatment of dementia, especially Alzheimer’s Disease.
“However, such research takes time. Until a cure is found, people with dementia, their families and caregivers need help and support,” he said.
Therefore, Genting and Universiti Malaya (UM) had signed a memorandum of understanding last year to collaborate, set up and operate a dementia care centre.
The care centre, located in Segambut, has been completed and handed over to the management team, led by the Geriatric Division of UM.
“This centre is purpose-built and designed with the input from the clinicians at UM’s Geriatric Division to offer day care services for people suffering from dementia. The centre will also provide dementia care training to care givers and family members,” said Lim.
He added that the centre will be operated on a charitable basis, funded by Genting Group.
The conference featured four eminent speakers, namely computational neuroscientist Dr Anders Dale, medical physicist Professor Dr Ng Kwan Hoong, pioneer in Tau research Professor Claude M. Wischik, and biomedical scientist Dr Robert J. Hariri.
The conference was held in conjunction with Genting Founder’s Day on the latest approaches in medical science with respect to healthy ageing, through early detection and novel treatments.
