Introduction:

The World Health Organization (WHO) approved the Plan of Action to tackle dementia in its 70th World Meeting held on May 29th, 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland. Dementia affects 50 million people in the world, and if there is not an effective intervention, this figure will nearly triple by the year 2050. This disease can become the most expensive one that the health services will face and one of those of greatest impact in the family and society worldwide.

Objective:

To present the actions carried out in Cuba for the implementation of the world goals suggested in the global plan of action for dementia approved by the WHO.

Material and methods:

The global plan of action for the attention to dementia approved by the World Health Organization in 2017 was reviewed, and the fulfillment of the implementation of the seven world goals in our country was verified. The sources of information reviewed were the Annual Health Statistics Report 2017, the work reports presented by the Elderly Department, Social Care Services, and Mental Health, 2017.

Development:

Cuba developed the National Strategy for Alzheimer disease and dementia syndromes in 2014 taking into account the Global Plan of Action as a response of public health to dementia 2017-2025. This Cuban strategy was brought up to date in 2017 with the following concepts: 1) gender equality, 2) improvement of the information systems regarding the disease, 3) update of the indicators according to the plan approved by the WHO 4) creation of friendly environments for people with dementia. There is at least a specialized center in each province for the early diagnosis of the disease from the Primary Health Care.

Conclusions:

Cuba has taken the first steps in the implementation of the global plan of action for the response of public health to dementia from 2017 to 2025, and the advance on this respect will depend on the commitment of the health care personnel and all social sectors.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )