In Bosnia and Herzegovina, less than 3% of those affected by dementia are actually diagnosed. The rate of diagnosis through the initiative of the national primary health care system is extremely low due to lack of funding and attention. Udruženje AiR, the Alzheimer's association in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has promised to increase this diagnosis percentage.
At the beginning of October, the Association published a handbook entitled “Dementia from the angle of Primary Health Care“. It marks the beginning of an ambitious project to increase the country’s dementia diagnosis rate.
The Association has also organised successful masterclasses (pictured) for GPs and nurses. There is an urgent need to have up-to-date information about dementia, in the areas of prevalence, causes, types, medical therapies, the importance of the non-pharmacological post-diagnostic support, and palliative care. As part of this training, certain protocols have been developed which show the need to prepare personal disease progression histories for each patient, in preparation for accurate diagnosis. To date, 2 masterclasses have been organised and attendance was high, at 250 participants, showing the level of interest in this type of training. Each participant received a free handbook to use as a reference guide in their daily work.
