Cuba

In Cuba, 14,6% of the population is older than 60years of age. Some studies of the dementia syndrome in different municipalities of Havana city have shown prevalence figures between 8,2 and 14,9%, corresponding with AD lying between 5,13% and 7,14%. It is calculated that approximately 100 000 105persons in the country suffer of AD or related dementia (Llibre, 1999; Llibre, 1999; Casanova, 2001). Cuba has higher dementia prevalence rates compared with other Carribean countries in the same geographic area.

It is expected that over the next 15 years, Cuba’s population over the age of 80 “is going to increase in an accelerated way and will reach nearly half a million people, of whom an estimated 40 percent will have this disease,” the president of the Cuban Alzheimer’s Association, Juan de Jesus Llibre told the newspaper. If a cure is not found for Alzheimer’s in the next few years, Cuba could have 200,000 people afflicted with the neurological disorder by 2020, Llibre said. Alzheimer’s has become “a growing health problem” and “an urgent research priority” due to the aging of Cuba’s population, Juventud Rebelde said. Some 17 percent of Cuba’s 11.2 million people are over the age of 60, official figures show. Cuba’s average life expectancy is 78 years, a figure exceeded in Latin America only by Costa Rica’s average of 79 years. For more information and support  click here Alzheimer's Association of Cuba Sección Cubana de la Enfermedad de Alzheimer Policlinico Docente Playa Proyecto Alzheimer, Avenida 68 # 29B y 29F Playa Ciudad de la Habana, C.P. 11400 Cuba Tel: +537 220 974 Fax: +537 336 857 Email: mguerra@infomed.sld.cu Web: www.alzheimer.sld.cu