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Dementia mate wareware is a major and growing health care problem for Aotearoa New Zealand. With no clinical breakthroughs, an ageing population, and unprecedented growth in the number of people living with dementia mate wareware, this crisis has our country in its grip.

This health problem centres on the rapidly growing number of dementia mate wareware cases, and the inadequate Government funding for the dementia mate wareware sector over many years.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, around 70,000 people lived with dementia in 2020 and this number is set to jump by 240 per cent in the next 30 years. It will hit our Māori, Pacific, and Asian communities hardest, creating major health equity issues. Four in five New Zealanders know or have known someone living with dementia mate wareware.

Dementia mate wareware will cost the country almost $6 billion a year in today’s dollars by 2050 if nothing changes.

Demand for dementia mate wareware care is increasing but there are too many people with this health condition who cannot get the help they need.

There are three key actions by Government that could do much now to stem the worst impacts of this escalating situation: 

• Fully fund and implement the Dementia Mate Wareware Action Plan 
• In Budget 2024, provide funding of $127.3 million over the three years 2024-2026 to Alzheimers and Dementia organisations to deliver community-based services
• Develop a health strategy and plan for an integrated continuum of care for older people

You can support us to campaign for these changes using the actions below or check out our Advocacy Toolkit.