Residents of Manila village in Bantwal taluk attend an awareness programme on dementia recently
More than 90 residents aged 40 and above attended the programme organised by department of public health, Nitte Institute of Allied Health Sciences (NIAHS), Nitte (deemed to be university), in association with Manila gram panchayat. MPH students screened around 70 residents and referred about 20 for further evaluation. Dr Sherley D’Almeida, public health consultant and alumna of Nitte, explained dementia, its progression and how it differs from occasional forgetfulness. The programme also included health outreach. Doctors from the department of public health dentistry, AB Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, provided free dental care. The outreach was coordinated by Dr Ashith PC, a public health specialist and alumnus of Nitte’s department of public health, who helped mobilise residents, coordinated with the gram panchayat and facilitated access to the KSHEMA health card, which provides affordable treatment at Nitte-affiliated hospitals.
It was held as part of World Alzheimer’s Month, whose theme is ‘The earlier you know, the more you can do: A dementia diagnosis matters’.