The total population of Latin America (LA) grew from 313 million in 1975, to 508 million in the year 2000, and the population projected for the year 2025 is 685 million. This makes this geographic area one of the fastest population growing regions of the world. The total number of individuals aged 60 and over in LA and the Caribbean by the year 2000 was 41.3 million and another 57 million are estimated to be added to this population by 2025.
This marked increase in the population of elderly people in such a short period of time is characteristic of the accelerated process of demographic transition that is occurring in most Latin American countries, with a significant rise in life expectancy (that raised from 58.9 years in the period 1970-1975 to 66.9 years in 1995-2000) associated to a rapid decrease in birth rate (that fell from 5.1 in the period 170-1975 to 2.7 in 1995-2000). With the exception of Argentina, Chile, Cuba and Uruguay, countries which are already advanced in this process, all the remaining countries are either in the beginning or in the middle of demographic transition. As a result of this process, the elderly people that represented 8% of the total population of LA in the year 2000, will represent 14.1% by 2025.
Another important demographic aspect pertains to the socioeconomic and educational status of the elderly population in LA. The poverty rate exceeds 30% of the elderly living in urban areas in more than half of the countries and the number of illiterates is high (superior to 20% in most of the countries).
A natural consequence of this rapid demographic transformation, together with the low rates of socioeconomic and educational levels and the still limited access to healthcare services, is the increasing prevalence of chronic medical conditions. Among these, dementia is becoming a major public health problem in LA, although epidemiological information about it is still scarce.
The main topic of this presentation will be the current situation of dementia in LA, especially focusing on epidemiological data. The available information about prevalence and incidence of dementia will be discussed, together with some data on environmental and genetic risk factors. The implications of the rapid increase in the number of patients with dementia will also be outlined and some of the existing healthcare supporting programs for these patients will be presented.
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