The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference launched a 10-year initiative to transform dementia from a stigmatised and overlooked condition into a continental public health priority.
The conference had the theme, “The State of Dementia in Africa: From a Hidden Crisis to an African Continental Health Priority”.
It called for concrete and measurable action to address dementia across Africa.
Delivering the Chairman’s opening address, Amb. Stephen Ben-Joel warned that Africa’s rapid demographic shift makes immediate action imperative.
Ben-Joel said, while Africa remains the world’s youngest continent, its ageing population meant that millions face rising rates of cognitive decline, often in silence.
“In many communities, these symptoms are misunderstood, attributed simply to old age, or unfortunately associated with superstition, spiritual attacks, witchcraft, or madness,” he said.
He also emphasised that a crisis remains hidden when families suffer uncounted and without support.
“Dementia does not erase the value of a human life. Memory loss does not remove human dignity,” he said
Also speaking, the President and Founder of Dementia Africa, Dr Oma Iyoko, unveiled the Dementia Africa Vision 2036, a 10 year strategy to build an African dementia movement.
“I dream of an Africa in which dementia is no longer hidden behind the walls of stigma, misunderstanding, fear, and silence.
“I dream of an Africa in which the diagnosis of dementia does not become a sentence to invisibility,” she said.
Iyoko said the strategy was built around CARER, a five pillar framework focusing on Conference and Care Improvement, Awareness, Research, Education, and Regulation and Policy.
She announced plans to establish the first African Dementia Data Bank to ensure Africa leads its own medical narratives rather than relying on external data.
According to Iyoko, the data bank would be an interconnected research ecosystem designed to collect evidence rooted in African genetics, languages, family structures, and environments.
She said by 2036, the movement aims to achieve five core continental goals, including the “One Africa, One Dementia Network”.
She said this would establish active, non-ceremonial membership across all African nations to pool resources and provide care models.
She said the second goal was the ‘National Policy Integration’, designed to embed dementia strategies into national health budgets and measuring direct human impact.
Iyoko said the third goal, a Knowledge Powerhouse, seeks to develop an African dementia library and position the continent as a producer of global dementia knowledge.
She said the fourth goal, Workforce Development, would provide continent wide training for doctors, nurses, social workers, and community health personnel.
She added that the fifth goal, a Unified Global Voice, would ensure that African realities and innovations shaped the global dementia agenda.
Iyoko urged participants to leave the conference with measurable commitments to invest in dementia care, research, awareness, and policy development.
“History does not ultimately remember how many distinguished people occupied a room or how many speeches were delivered.
“History remembers what people decided to do when they had the opportunity to act,” Iyoko said.
NAN reports that health specialists, policy experts, support workers, and other stakeholders from across the world attended the event.
The conference featured research presentations, panel discussions and goodwill messages from participants and stakeholders.
Edited by Grace Alegba