Devex: Opinion: Why dementia should be treated like all other NCDs
Kate Swaffer, chair, CEO, and co-founder of Dementia Alliance International

“Dementia is one of many conditions within a very large group of noncommunicable diseases that, until recently, has not been given the focus it deserves within this cohort. … [G]lobally, we need a new way of not only viewing dementia, but also managing it. … Everyone with dementia is a rights bearer under the United Nations. The [Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)] and all states party to it are committed under international law to include persons with dementia in the convention’s implementation. … [H]uman rights must be included in all dementia services, as well as national dementia plans and strategies. … [W]e ask governments, member states, NGOs, disability organizations, and civil society to consider their responsibility to provide the financial support so often needed to enable people living with dementia to attend meetings and conferences on these and other matters affecting them … We ask we leave no one behind through the full implementation of the CRPD, including people with dementia…” (7/23).