Action needed as Australia's dementia deaths surge

Significant intervention is needed to tackle dementia, which is close to becoming Australia's leading cause of death, advocates say.

There are currently an estimated 421,000 Australians living with dementia and this number is expected to increase to more than 812,500 by 2054.

The national peak body supporting people living with the brain disease, Dementia Australia, says there is no cure for the poorly understood condition and targeted and effective health care is required for those impacted.

"Taking this dual approach will ensure we are working towards reducing the impact of dementia in the future," chief executive Tanya Buchanan said on Friday.

"This call is backed by the 2024 update of the Lancet Commission on the prevention, treatment, and care of dementia, which reports that almost half of dementia cases worldwide could be prevented or delayed."

Professor Buchanan said she was very concerned about the lack of understanding of dementia.

"Dementia Australia recently released research which found that one in three people think that dementia is a normal part of ageing and 68 per cent of people say that they know very little about dementia," she said.

She said studies showed that stigma and discrimination associated with a dementia diagnosis could discourage people from seeking health care, including a diagnosis.

That stigma could result in reduced social engagement with family, friends and the broader community, having knock-on effects on the physical, cognitive and psychosocial health of individuals.

"We need urgent and sustained action by communities and governments of all levels to increase awareness and understanding of dementia," Prof Buchanan said.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 183,131 deaths in 2023, a 4.1 per cent fall from 2022 when the nation recorded significant excess mortality.

Coronary heart disease remained the leading cause of death (9.2 per cent of all deaths), but less than 250 deaths separate it from dementia (9.1 per cent).

Cerebrovascular disease, lung cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases rounded out the top five leading causes.

COVID-19 was the 9th leading cause of death accounting for 5001 deaths, decreasing from 9862 in 2022.

Dementia remains the leading cause of death for Australian women, representing 12.2 per cent of all female deaths and 6.4 per cent of male deaths.The figures also show that dementia is now the leading cause of death in South Australia, the ACT, and, for the first time, NSW.