Luxembourg's big bill for Dementia

(JB) Luxembourg spends more per patient on dementia treatment than any other country in the EU15 bloc, a study has revealed.

In 2007, the Grand Duchy shelled out 22,232 euros for each of its 6,000 patients diagnosed with the debilitating disease.

This expenditure was well above the EU15 average of 10,287 euros, placing Luxembourg ahead of neighbours France (11,196 euros), Belgium (8,824 euros) and Germany (12,303 euros).

The results emerged in a study by academics at England's Oxford University, published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease this month.

Dementia refers to a group of symptoms caused by a progressive decline in brain functions, including memory and communication loss, personality and behavioural changes as well as physical changes like weight loss.

Affecting mostly the elderly population, some 35.6 million people were diagnosed with Dementia in 2010, a figure which is expected to grow to 66 million by 2030 and 115 million by 2050.

The cost of the disorder is also mounting. In 2007, the EU15 countries spent a total of 189 billion euros on treatment.

Study author Ramon Luengo-Fernandez said: “In conclusion, dementia poses a significant economic burden to European health and social care systems and society overall. Our results will be helpful for policy makers in evaluating policy impact and prioritising research expenditures. This study highlights the need for more accurate and comparable dementia-related data across the European countries.”

The report pointed out that informal unpaid care, provided by spouses, friends or relatives, accounted for an enormous 68% of costs.

In Luxembourg informal care, involving tasks such as doing a patient's shopping, supervising them or bathing and dressing, accounted for 0.1 billion euros, accounting for nearly 50% of total costs.

The country's expenditure on long-term institutional care accounted for around 40% of total spending. Luxembourg was also the only country where long-term care accommodation accounted for over half of total costs.