George Vrandenburg, founder of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative, has expressed concerns over
Increase in populations ageing and mental health disorders.
He described it a record high, and stressed the need for halting the global “pandemic” of brain disorders as paramount concern of industry – as well as the global health community.
What is needed is a global effort spawning a “healthy brain economy” for the future, reflecting the same sense of commitment and investments as those displayed in preventing childhood diseases.
Vrandenburg, alerted the world
on the closing day of a three-day ‘’Brain House’’ series of panels and seminars at the World Economic Forum, the first such event ever to be mounted during the WEF.
“We live in a mega trend of aging demographics, which means that the chronic diseases of aging, in terms of numbers, in terms of DALYs by brain disorders are growing rapidly, and the cost to governments, the cost to families and the cost each of us is rising rapidly,” Vradenburg said,
after bringing brain health to the main Davos stage for the first time ever.
In classic Davos style, the three day dialogue series that took place in a custom-built “Brain House” pod near the WEF mainstage venues, not only made the health case – it highlighted the business case for tackling brain health, as an economic and workforce imperative – as well as a global health goal.
Brain economy – negative or positive
Given demographic trends, there will be far fewer working people to support growing populations of older people, and ensure the level of affluence that industrialized economies, in particular, have seen to date, Vradenburg pointed out.
“If we have fewer workers for larger populations, without increasing worker productivity and participation in the economy, we’re not going to be in the same place at the end of the century, as we were at the beginning.
“So moving from a ‘brain negative’ world we have fewer brains working, more brain’s sick, to a ‘brain positive’ world in which the brain is contributing to economic growth, to capital, as well as to our own health, is a transformation of comparable scope and scale to climate change toward what we’re seeing with AI.
“The big number is $26 trillion of economic opportunity from addressing brain health, including in the workplace, where proactively investing in holistic employee health could create close to $12 trillion of global economic value,” said Lucy Pérez.
She co-leads McKinsey Health Institute (MHI), a non-profit branch of the global consultancy.
She cited recent research by MHI in collaboration with DAC and the US-NGO Us Against Alzheimer’s on how investments in brain health would enhance workforce performance, ignite innovation and “reclaim” millions of years of quality life years – now lost to disability.
Against the opportunities are also the costs. Brain disorders currently cost the global economy some $5 trillion annually — a figure projected to soar to $16 trillion by 2030, MHI projects.
“But let’s admit it, this can be quite challenging for employers, because we’ve been looking at brain health in very siloed ways,” Pérez said, referring to the fact that employers face a crowded marketplace of solutions addressing entry points like mental health or workforce performance, which can be difficult to navigate.
Lucy Pérez, McKinsey Health Institute, makes the business case for investments in brain health.
Indeed, while Vradenburg’s own journey into the issue began after watching three generations of family members succumb to Alzheimer’s – he soon realized that focusing only on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, as such, was not enough.
As a movement, DAC, as well, has gradually moved to embrace a more holistic ‘life course’ approach – which sees brain health embracing a wide range of issues – from the ways in which prenatal nutrition, environmental health and climate change, and a host of lifestyle factors increase – or reduce – one’s risks.
“What we have learned is that Alzheimer’s disease can only be prevented and addressed by a holistic life-course approach to brain health – from maternal health to mental health, from workforce stress to cardiometabolic treatments, from autism to Alzheimer’s.
“We’ve got to change our nutrition, we’ve got to change our educational system. We’ve got to do a better job of maternal health – so that in the early childhood years, when the brain is developing, those kids are positioned to realize their dreams in life,” said Vradenburg.
“So how do we bring about change? How do you basically stop the pandemic of brain disorders with the same energy and commitment that we applied to preventing childhood diseases?
“This is an epidemic caused by demography. It’s not an epidemic caused by infection, but the consequences in terms of the globe are comparable.
“How is it that we develop the brains of our young people – and increase health and productivity, for the next few years as well for the next 20-30 years?
