Third of Hongkongers over 80 will have dementia by 2050 as experts warn city is completely unprepared
Nobody likes dealing with aging. Especially Hong Kong.
The number of Hongkongers over the age of 80 will peak after 2050, according to new population projections slated for release at the end of the month, and at least a third of them will have dementia - amid a dire warning by experts that Hong Kong is completely unprepared due to years of inaction.
The new statistics come as the learned that an upcoming elderly services planning report - the first since 1991 - will not contain concrete policies for tackling dementia, even though experts tagged the chronic illness as the biggest problem as the city's population ages.
"We're at a watershed point - if we don't start doing something about dementia now, it will be too late," said Law Chi-kwong, social work professor at the University of Hong Kong and chairman of the Community Care Fund task force.
Read more: Singapore, Macau, Japan: Other Asian territories are preparing for dementia 'explosion' but Hong Kong 'has ignored it'
"Dementia is the most hard-to-deal-with issue created by the ageing population - because we've swept it under the rug for too long," he said.
Law said it was those over 80 years old who would demand exponentially more medical, social and community support.
The Hong Kong Alzheimer's Disease Association estimates that dementia-specific costs will amount to US$3.2 billion in 2015.
About 4.5 per cent of the current population - 326,000 people - is aged 80 or above. The figure will almost double to 696,700 by 2035 and further rise to 11.3 per cent by 2041, which is close to a million, according to Census and Statistics Department projections. But a source close to the department said new projections showed the age group peaking after 2050.
While the Hong Kong government still does not provide subsidised dementia-specific services, dementia specialists from the Alzheimer's Disease Association have been invited by the Macau government to formulate a 10-year action plan to tackle the issue.
Cognitive exercises help to delay deterioration, but the elderly need to pay for such services, said association executive director, Maggie Lee Nga-yee.
"It means that if you're rich you can afford dementia-specific help, but if you're poor, there's nothing for you," said Lee.
The government-commissioned Elderly Services Programme Plan, slated to be released next year, did not contain concrete dementia-related planning because there were no existing programmes nor pilot schemes to act as precedents, a source close to the government said.
