Health Committee Warns Dementia Cases Will Surge as Treatment Gaps Persist

Israel's Health Committee met on Monday to review implementation of the national Alzheimer’s and dementia plan, amid growing concerns over how patients and families are supported. Committee chair Yoni Mshriky said dementia and Alzheimer’s place patients and their relatives on a “complex and difficult journey,” marked by memory loss, confusion, declining function, fear and increasing dependence, while spouses, children and close family carry a heavy burden and often do not know where to turn for diagnosis or follow-up care.

Mshriky said the national plan was presented in 2013 and was supposed to include early diagnosis, continuous treatment, family support, staff training and community services. He said he was “very worried” by the Health Ministry’s answers to questions about implementation, especially on two central promises, a national dementia registry and expanded memory clinics. The ministry said it conducts a survey every five years, but Mshriky argued that this is not a real-time registry that shows how many patients there are, where they are, and what care they receive. He also said there is no regulatory definition for a memory clinic, even though the plan called for better access to diagnosis in memory and cognitive assessment clinics.

He asked how families are supposed to know where to go if there is no definition, mapping or standard. Benny Gantz of Blue and White also spoke about his wife’s illness, saying she wrote a diary in the early stages that has not yet been published. He compared dementia to trauma injuries, saying that in both cases a person may appear normal at first and then gradually withdraw.

Baruch Liberman, CEO of the “Friends for Life” organization, said Alzheimer’s treatment has improved significantly in recent years with new drugs that can slow cognitive and functional decline and help patients remain independent longer. But he said Israeli patients face major barriers to actually receiving treatment. Even those who secure drug financing through private insurance, personal funds or other sources must often pay out of pocket for the full medical package, including day hospitalization, infusions and monitoring tests. He warned that a patient may have access to the drug itself but still be unable to receive it, and urged the health system to regulate the issue quickly so every eligible patient can get the necessary medical support.