With September fast approaching, Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) and its members are preparing for World Alzheimer’s Month under the theme of Let’s talk about dementia: End the stigma.

Each year, Alzheimer associations from around the world unite to organise advocacy and information provision events, as well as Memory Walks and fundraising days. The impact of this campaign is growing, but the stigmatisation and misinformation that surrounds dementia remains a global issue. Many individuals delay taking action to seek out information, help, advice and support when they are first worried about their memory or that of a family member, friend or colleague.

This September is our time for action; to tackle fear and stigma surrounding dementia everywhere.

An important feature of this year’s campaign is the World Alzheimer Report 2019, which will explore people’s attitudes to dementia. The report will use the results from ADI’s global survey on attitudes around dementia, which received almost 70,000 responses from more than 140 countries. The report will feature survey results alongside expert essays and case studies, and will be released in September, during World Alzheimer’s Month.

The survey data will help us sharpen our advocacy with governments around the world, for example in the area of risk reduction. With the expanded 5x5 approach of the World Health Organization (WHO) to include mental health and neurological conditions and the recently-launched WHO guidelines on risk reduction of cognitive decline and dementia, we are slowly seeing progress in this area. However, for risk-reduction strategies to be successfully implemented, there needs to be increased awareness and an open dialogue about dementia.

Encouraging an open dialogue is the driving-force behind the theme of this year’s campaign.

Visit the campaign website for more information, to find an event in your country, and to download materials in various languages.