Social and Private Costs of Dementia

Abstract

We give an overview of the huge and increasing economic costs of dementia, both for the persons with dementia and for society as a whole. Public intervention is needed if we want to provide affordable and high-quality care to all persons with dementia. First, although an effective pharmaceutical cure for dementia would undoubtedly be a blockbuster drug for private companies, economic features of the production process of dementia medicines explain the relative underinvestment in private research. Second, there are no well-functioning private insurance markets for long-term care expenditures. Public intervention is needed to stimulate research, to finance care, to reduce inequalities in health and well-being, and address barriers to access to effective treatment and supportive care.