Head of the Neurology Department and Alzheimer's Center at Al-Razi Hospital in Tunisia, Dr. Riad Quaider said that, population format in Tunisia has changed greatly, where number of elderly diagnosed with geriatric diseases, especially Alzheimer's has increased.
During an interview with “Arab Today”, Dr. Quaider said according to statistics, the number of old people in Tunisia amounted to approximately one million with the expectation of more increase by 2030. He added that, the number of Alzheimer’s patients exceeded 50.000 persons, and this increased number acquires the implementation of “Alzheimer Plan” that will introduce ways to improve the care services these patients receive.
Alzheimer is a disease happens to older people, affects the memory and gradually develops. There are medications that can help with its side effects, but there isn’t any medicine that can completely cure it. The treatment for this disease costs a lot of money and requires special care for its carrier, which puts the patient’s family through a lot of problems.
According to Dr. Quaider, geriatrics is a new major that appeared as a response for the needs of a growing class in the world, a class for people who are more than 65 years old, that represent 10% of the world population, and this rate is expected to amount to 20% by 2050.