The report found that:

• Dementia care costs around 1% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP)
  
• If dementia care were a country, it would be the world’s 18th largest economy
  
• If dementia care was a company, it would be the world’s largest by annual revenue, exceeding Wal-Mart ($414 billion) and Exxon Mobil ($311 billion)
  
• By 2030, worldwide societal costs will increase by 85% (a very conservative estimate)
  and continue soaring.

In the report, costs were attributed to the direct costs of medical care, direct costs of social care (provided in residential care settings and by community care professionals), and informal care (unpaid care provided by family caregivers and others).

The association is working to enact critical legislation to address these issues. The National Alzheimer’s Project Act (S.3036/H.R.4689) would create a National Alzheimer’s Project Office and an inter-agency Advisory Council responsible for developing a national plan to overcome the Alzheimer crisis. This new office would provide strategic planning and coordination for the fight against Alzheimer’s across the federal government as a whole, touching on issues from research to care to support, at no additional cost to the government.

The 2010 World Alzheimer Report contains further recommendations which call on governments to increase dementia research funding, develop policies and plans for long-term care, and ensure access to cost-effective and appropriate healthcare services.