Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health Administration) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

World Alzheimer’s Day, 21 September, is a day when organisations around the globe unite in their efforts to raise awareness about the disease and its impact on our families, communities and nations,

(ii)

in 2010 the first baby boomers will turn 65 years and by 2020 there will be an estimated 75 000 baby boomers with dementia,

(iii)

the prevalence of dementia in Australia is projected to increase from 245 000 today to more than 1.1 million by 2050,

(iv)

dementia will have a dramatic impact on health and care costs, with dementia likely to outstrip any other health condition by the 2060s,

(v)

in 2005 Australia was the first nation to adopt dementia as a national health priority by implementing the ‘Dementia Initiative – making Dementia a National Health Priority’ with bipartisan support, and

(vi)

in 2010 the Government will determine Australian dementia funding priorities for the next 5 years; and

(b)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

continue the Dementia Initiative and to support the promotion of prevention, early intervention and diagnosis of dementia, to improve access to community and residential care services and to support dementia research, and

(ii)

adopt the twin objectives of a national strategy to improve the provision of quality dementia care for all Australians and to reduce the prevalence and incidence of dementia in the future.

Question agreed to.