China faces growing Alzheimer's problem

BEIJING, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- China has begun to make plans to deal with an exploding elderly population and an increase in cases of Alzheimer's disease, officials say.

It is predicted that within three decades there could be almost 400 million people in China over the age of 60 and, in part because of the one-child policy, a declining number of working-age people to care for them, The New York Times reported Thursday.

China has started programs to educate the public and the health community about Alzheimer's, and large cities are making plans to build healthcare facilities to treat patients, the newspaper said.

The effort marks a shift in attitudes about Alzheimer's, as even just 10 years ago families were ashamed to acknowledge their older members suffered from the dementia and symptoms of the disease.

Now families are desperate to place relatives in a nursing home, but health experts say there simply are not enough facilities, with only a handful of nursing homes trained to care for dementia patients.

"This is an impending health crisis for China, and it may even exceed what's happening in the U.S. because of the one-child policy," Rhoda Au, an associate professor at the Boston University School of Medicine, said.

Chinese officials admit they have catching up to do.

"We're planning to build at least one nursing home that can care for dementia patients in every district," Zhang Fan, deputy director of social welfare at the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, told the Times. "Every year, we'll need at least 5,000 additional beds."