Sir William Beveridge Foundation
Working on Health & Social Care; Women Empowerment; Training & Education; Research & Dementia Friendly Care Village
First International Dementia Conference in Bangladesh, 2014
The Foundation held it’s first International Dementia Conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh on the 14th February 2014. The conference was organised to create awareness on the Challenges of an Ageing Population for a Developing Country where the key topic of discussion was about Dementia. The event took place at BIAM Auditorium in the heart of Dhaka city. Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease is one of the biggest public health challenges facing our generation. Today, over 35million people worldwide live with the condition and this number is expected to double by 2030 and triple by 2050 to115 million.
The conference was Chaired by Mr. Frank J Schaper, a Senior Dementia Consultant and former CEO of Alzheimer’s Australia WA Ltd.Also attended by some of the honorable guests included Mr. Syed Mohsin Ali, Minister from the Ministry of Social Welfare, Mr. Jahid Malik Swapan, State Minister from the Ministry of Health and Family welfare and Nasima Begum, Secretary in charge from the Ministry of Social Welfare.
Our Chair of Sir William Beveridge Foundation, Mr. Michael O’Keefe had also travelled from the United Kingdom to provide his support and express his passion for social care and health care. He has been an integral support for the the South East Asian communities in London. He gave the introductory speech to the guests, welcoming people to join the Foundations efforts to create awareness and support for people living with Dementia.
The Executive Director, Rahman Jilani and Head of Operations, Maj Gen (ret’d) Jiban Kanai Das also delivered introductory speech and welcomed the guests and professionals that attended, emphasising the essential work the Foundation was doing around Bangladesh, other parts of the world and United Kingdom.
The Foundation’s people were delighted with the response received at the conference and the support from other medical and clinical institutes to diagnose, support and reduce the effect of Dementia people may feel as they age. Bangladesh mortality rates have been reducing due to better health care and medical advances where people are living longer and therefore will require more support to live independently. The recent report of the World Health Organisation shows that life expectancy has improved in Bangladesh due to better healthcare provisions and that there has been a increase in the quality of life overall. The main goal of the conference was achieved, where medical professionals are becoming more aware of the importance to research and tackle the issues related to Alzheimer’s disease.
Photos from the event: 14th February 2014 at the BIAM Auditorium
