Paulo Caramelli, MD, PhD, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, discusses the key challenges associated with the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in countries of Latin America. Latin America is a vast region with many inequalities and discrepancies between individuals in terms of access to healthcare, socioeconomic status, and cultural and educational background. In older individuals, illiteracy and low education remain an important issue and have a profound impact on risk of dementia and AD. Prof. Caramelli anticipates that the advent of new drugs and diagnostic tools will exacerbate the differences between groups further, as many individuals rely on universal public healthcare and are not in an economic position which will allow them to afford these new therapeutic and diagnostic options. Additionally, many individuals with dementia do not get diagnosed, and are therefore not treated.There is a need for an improvement in diagnosis of patients in primary healthcare. Prof. Caramelli comments on his involvement in the task force of the Brazilian Academy of Neurology, which has published seven papers with recommendations for diagnosis and management of dementia in Brazil. He has also been involved in the preparation of a national report which informs the government of how to tackle specific problem areas in the dementia space in Brazil. This interview took place at the World Congress of Neurology (WCN) 2023 in Montreal, Canada.
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