Ali Tajumal recently arrived in Pakistan after giving up his banking career in Canada. He and his wife Tahira Tajumal themselves are also preparing for old age after retirement, but at this time their major responsibility is taking care of their aging mother.
Residents of Ali Tajmal’s ancestral home in Lahore spend most of their time in the care of an elderly man who has forgotten the small things of his past, is oblivious to his present and whose future is nothing but a bleak one.
After this disease of dementia, the family is the only ‘memory’ of the patient.
A very wise person if he himself forgets what he said after two minutes. If a housewife does not remember where she kept the sugar jar in the kitchen or loses her glasses several times a day, there will be concern.
A few years ago, Ali Tajmal also started to see similar symptoms in his mother, so he got worried. These symptoms became more severe and led to a diagnosis of dementia.
He says, ‘Mother used to get up at night. I was afraid that I might fall somewhere. Even if one of their crotch was tied to someone and there was an obstacle on the other side, they would still get up. Even fell once and fractured.
Now mother’s care had turned into a round-the-clock responsibility. Since then, Ali Tajmal and his wife, Tahira Tajmal, have continued to expand their knowledge of dementia.
Alzheimer’s and its accompanying dementia are commonly referred to as a disease of forgetfulness, but it’s not quite that simple. Loss of memory due to an accident, illness, or mental stress is not dementia, but rather a gradual weakening of many mental and physical abilities other than memory. These include not being able to focus and concentrate, lack of coordination of body and mind, lack of ability to think and understand.
Over time, these symptoms become severe, making it impossible for the patient to perform daily social activities, and the patient requires constant care.
It is generally thought of as a disease of old age, but with the help of a specialist, its effects can be seen earlier, especially when the disease runs in the family.
What does the World Economic Forum report say?
The World Economic Forum released a list of major global threats earlier this year. The health sector says that the rate of NCDs, or non-communicable diseases, will exceed epidemics worldwide.
NCDs account for 40 million deaths worldwide every year, while the report says that this number will increase to 52 million by 2030. .
Among these NCDs, dementia is at the top. In the near future, the number of people affected by dementia will increase by one crore every year worldwide.
According to the report, one of the main reasons for this is the increase in the average age of people. The average life expectancy in different societies was twenty to fifty years which is now seventy years in total. While the average age difference between different developing and developed countries has reached thirty three years.
The Economic Forum report warned that existing health systems around the world are failing and ill-equipped to deal with the changing nature of disease. Countries’ budgets will begin to be spent on care for the elderly, and even in the private lives of individuals, earnings and pensions will be spent more than education, housing, and other expenses to deal with the problems of old age.
Is Pakistan ready for this upcoming challenge?
According to a World Health Organization report, 25% of deaths in Pakistan are due to NCDs.
Alzheimer’s Pakistan Secretary Dr. Hussain Jafari told BBC that there is no registry for dementia data in Pakistan, but according to an estimate, five to one million people are suffering from this disease and this number is constantly increasing.
Pakistan’s government hospitals do not have dedicated departments for Alzheimer’s or dementia. In this regard, help is taken from doctors in the private sector, but even here there are no care centers or day cares for such patients.
While an example of the deterioration of the current system is the failure to control polio so far. Regarding the challenge of dealing with NCDs in Pakistan, it can be said that the existing health system is not fully prepared for it.