India lacks geriatric care centres for Alzheimer's

Hyderabad: Social stigma of Alzheimer’s is high in India and many families are not willing to discuss this problem. This is one of the major reasons why many cases go unreported and the patient is not treated. 

In most cases, patients are looked after at home but this becomes a difficult for the family without a professional help. 

Dr R. Krishna, a senior neurologist, says that managing an Alzheimer’s patient in hospital is a costly affair. 

“They require special centres but we don’t have them in India. There is a lack of geriatric care at both clinical and in patient level. With the growing burden, a few centres have been developed in the country but the numbers cannot meet the demand and also the high costs.”

Not only must specialised and trained homecare should be developed and made available, but the insurance sector must support the families to meet the costs. The cost of employing a nurse for 12 hours in a city ranges from Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 per day. 

Adding to this is the cost of maintaining hygiene, infection control, and ensuring that the room or place is kept clean so that other people in the house are not affected.

R. Praveen, a healthcare specialist, explained, “The cost of managing these patients till their end stage is high and often the family members get drained out.There is also tremendous social pressure. This often takes a toll on the family that has to manage both emotionally and financially. So it is not just a disease that affects one member of the family the whole family is involved in the struggle to manage the disease, which can go on for another 10 years.”