Municipality Centar allocates 3,500 KM for dementia testing project

The Municipality of Centar Sarajevo, led by Mayor Dževad Bećirević, is one of the few local communities that has prioritized the care of the elderly for years. This local community is providing funds to the association "AiR" for the second year in a row for projects aimed at diagnosing dementia in its early stages, and enabling better living conditions for people suffering from this disease, reports Patria News Agency.

For the project "Testing people over 60 years of age for dementia, and their registration in a unique registry of patients", the Municipality of Centar has allocated 3,500 marks from the 2016 budget through grants for non-profit organizations to the association "Air", which is also the founder of the Dementia Center.

The association "AiR" is a non-governmental organization for assisting people suffering from any type of dementia, and their families, with the aim of raising awareness about dementia in the community.

We remind that the Municipality of Centar allocated 5,000 KM to the association "AiR" from the 2015 budget for the project "Dementia in the Family", through which users of Merhamet and the Red Cross were tested, and within which the Association obtained alarming data.

70 users were tested, and 40 people had different types of dementia, which represents 57 percent of those tested. This data calls for urgent action to develop a strategy to combat dementia. There is no systemic assistance in terms of care for people with dementia, nor any support for caregivers-families. The reason is the lack of accurate records on the number of patients, because due to this, the sick do not have their own specific health code and their medications are not on essential lists, nor do they have social assistance in the form of financial compensation for care or assistance from a third party.

The goal of this year's project is to determine the number of patients; to record their problems; to consolidate the data in the registry of patients in the FBiH. With exact data, it will be possible to influence those responsible to take appropriate systemic measures that will help patients and their caregivers, and caregivers themselves will receive information on where they can turn for help and advice.

The invitation for testing will be sent by mail, posters, flyers, public broadcasters, telephone, and the like. Testing and registration of people over 60 years of age will be carried out in the premises of local communities, in coordination with family medicine doctors.