The milestone of one million dementia patients is within reach. Including patients and the millions of family members caring for them, countless lives are suffering due to dementia. As population aging accelerates, the prevalence of dementia among the elderly is projected to rise from 9.09% in 2025 to 10.34% in 2040 and 11.81% in 2050. Dementia can escalate from a personal and family tragedy into a national crisis.
Japan, which entered a super-aged society 17 years before Korea, has addressed dementia not by leaving it solely to families but through systemic measures. The approach involves early detection to enable patients to continue living in their communities, while protecting patients' rights and alleviating caregivers' burdens through national fiscal support and long-term care insurance. This stems from the recognition that dementia represents a crisis extending beyond medical costs, eroding caregiving resources and social productivity.
Although Korea declared the "National Dementia Responsibility System" in 2017, budgets have actually decreased. As a result, 61.3% of the nation's 257 Dementia Care Centers lack essential professional staff. Approximately 40% of workers are non-regular employees, with an average tenure of only about four years. Waiting times for precise examinations extend to two or three months, forcing families to seek expensive private testing for early diagnosis.
Care and severe treatment also remain in a state of gap. Day care centers supporting daily life for patients in early to mid-stages rely on the private sector for over 90%. Even these facilities are closing down or being pushed to outskirts due to inability to withstand high rent and labor costs. Only 25 Dementia Care Hospitals nationwide specialize in treating patients with worsened symptoms. The "diagnosis–care–treatment" network of the National Dementia Responsibility System is fragmented.
A more serious issue is the perception of dementia budgets merely as "expenditure." Hospitalization or institutional care incurs far greater personal and social costs than home-based care. Timely diagnosis and support constitute a proven investment that prevents unnecessary hospitalizations, reduces national fiscal burdens, and safeguards families from job loss and bankruptcy due to caregiving demands.
The government must not abandon the National Dementia Responsibility System as mere rhetoric. It must expand budgets and staffing for Dementia Care Centers and integrate scattered medical and long-term care data to reconnect the broken links in "diagnosis–care–treatment." Realizing reimbursement rates for severe treatment and providing support through institutional investors will preemptively reduce future government fiscal burdens and prevent family collapse.
in OPINION
