Some care-givers and advocates of people living with dementia have called on Nigerians to take responsibility for identifying and advising people with Alzheimer’s disease to seek prompt medical attention.
They made the call at a symposium on Alzheimer’s disease and Brain Awareness, organised by a non-governmental organisation, Christainment Health Awareness Foundation on Friday in Lagos.
The founder of the organisation, Mrs Claudette Bemigho-Amorighoye, said that her experience with family member affected by dementia prompted the need to create awareness around the disease.
“As a care-giver, I knew it was not easy to get diagnosis, identify and recognise the disease, but eventually, we got there and being able to manage it has gone a long way to helping every family member stay calm.
“So, we are trying to get many people, through this campaign, to be able to identify, get their loved ones checked immediately and be able to manage it as much as possible; dementia has no cure, but it can be managed,” she said.
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Also, a guest speaker, Dr Oluwatoni Adeyemi, the Senior Special Assistant on Health to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, said that managing Alzheimer’s disease involved a multidisciplinary task.
She said that the country’s demographic population was changing and a study carried out at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, showed that there were many cases annually.
“Managing Alzheimer’s disease is not just a doctor’s responsibility; it is multidisciplinary and so, there are many people that come together to give a holistic treatment,” she said.
The doctor said that although there was dearth of geriatric doctors in the state, however, the state was training more doctors to specialise in providing care for the elderly.
“We found out that there is need for the elderly care because we are having an ageing population; in the past we had a culture where we supported each other.
“However, with the advent of the japa syndrome (moving of people to other countries for socio-economic benefits) many young people are leaving; we need care givers and elderly homes to cater for the elderlies,” she said.
Also, a 70-year-old participant, Ms Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, said that there was need to demystify Alzheimer’s diseases to enable more people to become aware of the symptoms and take urgent steps to address it.
“We need to pay more attention to the signs and also be prepared because it is obvious that the more active you are, the more intellectually engaged you are.
“I urge everybody to see it as his or her responsibility to educate others; spread the information,” she said.
In her remarks, the wife of Ooni of Ife, Queen Ronke Ogunwusi, who also lauded the programmes, said that stigma was a huge challenge that must be addressed to change people’s attitude towards the disease.
“Events such as this educate us more about the dangers, signs, what to look out for and how to manage it,” she said.
Dementia is a general term for loss of memory, language, problem-solving and other thinking abilities that are severe enough to interfere with daily life.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, according to medical experts.
