This week, the use of the colour violet has been very conspicuous, especially on social media. As part of the government's strategy on dementia, launched two weeks ago, the Parliamentary Secretariat for the Rights of People with Disability and Active Ageing has now embarked on an awareness campaign on dementia to reduce the stigma associated with this condition and provide reliable information about it.

Although our campaign 'endzheimer' contains the word 'end', we cannot actually aspire to eradicate this condition because, as yet, there is no cure. The word 'end' refers to the stigma and wrong perceptions usually associated with people with dementia. We want to increase the levels of care and knowledge about the condition so that those suffering from dementia can be cared for in a better way.

We are using several channels to spread the message. First and foremost, I would like to give my personal thanks to all the media personalities participating in the campaign. Special thanks go to Katrina Pavia, Miss World Malta, for supporting our campaign and thus helping us spread the message to her fans and followers at this very important time in her career. We urge more people to support the campaign; everybody is welcome to help out and those willing to can contact us by email to [email protected]

This website, which was launched recently, gives a great deal of general information about dementia - information that is useful and easily accessible. It is in three sections - Learn, Share, Act - which are very self-explanatory. The ACT section is very particular because we created a tool 'Contact a professional', which goes directly to a professional person who specialises in dementia. The idea is to give more expeditious assistance on the condition through the web and other modern channels and also to help people obtain the required information with just an email.

Assistance is crucial and now the dementia helpline will be operating on a 24/7 basis so that anyone who requires assistance on dementia at any time of the day, can easily get it. I sincerely thank the Malta Dementia Society who have operated this helpline for years and will continue to do so, but now the government has stepped in to strengthen this service.

Training is also an essential component of this campaign. We have started training sessions for all our workforce in the elderly and health sectors and this training has also been extended to Gozo General Hospital employees. Most of the courses are partially financed by the European Social Fund and now we are in the process of planning a set of courses for the informal carers of those with dementia. Informative printed material on dementia is also available from various offices all over Gozo and Malta so that we spread such information as widely as possible and in various ways. This also goes hand-in-hand with the information which is being imparted via various television and radio programmes on our local stations.

I would like to conclude this column by also encouraging anyone interested in participating in the campaign to contact us on [email protected], or helping us spread the word by liking our Facebook page entitled 'endzheimer'. I would remind you that the number of people in Malta with dementia is estimated to be round 6,000 but this number will increase steadily over the years to come. Quoting WHO director-general Dr Margaret Chan, this is the contemporary tsunami and therefore we need to be prepared.

 

Dr Caruana is the Parliamentary Secretary for the Rights of People with Disability and Active Ageing