Extension of the Global Action Plan on the Public Health Response to Dementia

The Global action plan on the public health response to dementia (WHA A70/28), envisions a world in which dementia is prevented and people with dementia and their caregivers live well and receive the care and support they need to fulfil their potential with dignity, respect, autonomy and equality. Across its seven strategic action areas, the global dementia action plan sets global targets and proposes recommended actions for Member States, WHO and other stakeholders that will support the global community to deliver on the plan’s vision. 

A progress report submitted to WHO’s Governing Bodies in 2025 (EB156/36) indicated that the world falls drastically short of meeting the global action plan’s objectives, with especially low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) struggling to respond to the growing dementia challenges. This is of particular concern insofar as most people with dementia live, and will continue to live, in LMICs.   

As a result, WHO Member States decided in May 2025 to: 

• Extend the global action plan until 2031 (WHA A78/4, p.4), in line with the intersectoral global action plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders 2022-2031 

• Request the Director-General to submit a progress report on the implementation of this decision to the Eightieth World Health Assembly in 2027 and the Eighty-second World Health Assembly in 2029, as part of the reporting on WHO’s comprehensive mental health action plan 2013–2030. 

With advances in policy, service delivery, information and research, the extension of the global action plan presents a timely opportunity to leverage advances to meet global dementia targets. The extension also reinforces the importance of working together, as a global community, to realize the vision of the plan.