Actions against dementia. Ministry of Health encourages participation in public consultations

• The Ministry of Health encourages participation in public consultations on the draft resolution of the "National Action Plan for Dementia Diseases for 2025–2030"
• The programme is a strategic document indicating the justification for taking action in specific areas.
• According to the ministry, the programme is to draw attention to the need to take into account the needs of people with dementia and their carers when designing public activities.
• The Ministry of Health will be waiting for comments until July 23, 2025.

The Ministry of Health has launched public consultations on the draft resolution of the Council of Ministers on the “National Action Programme against Dementia for 2025–2030”.

The Ministry of Health invites all interested parties to participate in the consultations, in particular:

• sick people and their loved ones,
• representatives of patient organizations,
• scientific communities,
• local government units,
• institutions of the health care and social assistance system.

The deadline for submitting comments is 23 July 2025.

The content of the project can be found in the Public Information Bulletin of the Ministry of Health . Comments and opinions can be submitted by filling in the attached form and sending it in electronic form (also edited):

• via the e-Delivery system,
• via the ePUAP platform,
• or by e-mail: [email protected].

The OSR emphasizes that changes in the age structure of the world's population contribute to the increase in the number of people affected by dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. According to the World Alzheimer Report 2021, 55 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, and according to the forecasts included in this report, by 2030 these problems may affect up to 78 million people.

In recent years, Poland has also been observing an increasing process of ageing of society. The share of older people in the population of our country is systematically growing. The prevalence of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, is also increasing, as age is the main risk factor for the development of these diseases. They mainly affect people over 60 years of age and are one of the significant causes of disability among the elderly - it was reported in the OSR.

According to estimates by the National Health Fund, based on data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, in 2019, 585,000 people in the country suffered from Alzheimer's disease or related diseases (1.5% of the population).

The project initiator emphasizes that work on the proposal of specific actions was preceded by a diagnosis of the factual situation, and the diagnosis was based both on publicly available statistical data on the situation of people with dementia in Poland, as well as various reports and studies on this subject.

In addition, efforts were made to take into account the proposals for directions of action submitted by representatives of public administration and the social sector during meetings attended by representatives of the Ministry of Health. On their basis, strategic areas were formulated to which individual actions were assigned.

The main thematic areas of the Programme were identified, focusing in particular on the following activities:

I. RAISING SOCIAL AWARENESS - activities aimed at reducing stigmatizing behaviors and aimed at sensitizing society to the needs of people with dementia and their relatives, educational activities for various target groups, activities aimed at creating a space friendly to sick people;

II. REDUCING THE RISK OF DISEASE - information activities on modifiable risk factors for the occurrence of dementia disorders and possible preventive actions, designing activities promoting physical, intellectual and artistic activity, preparing guidelines, e.g. for local government units on activation activities supporting the prevention of dementia diseases;

III. SUPPORT FOR EARLY DIAGNOSTICS - improving the diagnosis of people suspected of having dementia, including the possible implementation of new diagnostic methods and methods into the system, implementing tools that increase the detectability of dementia at an early stage and determining their etiology;

IV. TREATMENT, CARE AND SUPPORT FOR PATIENTS - development of recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of dementia, as well as activities related to the development of day and home care, protection of the rights of people with dementia disorders, including a system of supported decision-making and expression of will, collection and dissemination of information regarding the support available to patients and their relatives in various situations, e.g. in the absence of a caregiver due to sudden hospitalization;

V. SUPPORT FOR CARERS - activities in the field of psychological and informational support for informal caregivers, respite care, training activities;

VI. BUILDING DATA COLLECTION SYSTEMS - collecting and monitoring data on dementia;

VII. RESEARCH AND INNOVATIONS - conducting scientific research and developing and implementing innovative solutions in the field of dementia, supporting modern technologies in the care of people with dementia.

It was recalled that the program is a strategic document indicating the justification for taking action in specific areas. This program is to draw attention to the need to take into account the needs of the group of people with dementia and their caregivers in designing public activities in many dimensions, which will enable taking more effective and efficient actions for these groups of recipients, also after the end of the currently planned edition of the program.

Activities in the field of early diagnosis of dementia (introduced to the list of guaranteed benefits) should allow for a more precise estimation of the number of people with dementia in Poland and for planning the scale of further interventions.

The results achieved will enable the achievement of the main objective of the programme, which is to increase the number of people who underwent tests assessing cognitive functions in primary health care, as well as to increase access to support for carers of people with dementia.

It is planned that the effects of the activities carried out will primarily be:

1. increasing knowledge and social awareness of dementia, including mainly sensitizing society to this problem;
2. developing effective solutions for early diagnosis so that people with dementia receive a diagnosis at the earliest possible stage of the disease;
3. improving activities in the field of treatment and care for people with dementia, so that after receiving a diagnosis, at every stage of the disease, people receive support adequate to the identified needs;
4. offering comprehensive support to informal caregivers of sick people, including psychological, educational, informational and respite support;
5. conducting scientific research in the field of dementia, allowing the development of new solutions and methods of treatment and care that could be implemented into the system in the long term.

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