FOR years, Zimbabwe has focused much of its public health attention on communicable diseases, maternal health and more recently non-communicable illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension.
Yet another health crisis has been quietly unfolding in homes and communities across the country — dementia.
It is a crisis that has largely gone unnoticed, misunderstood and neglected.
The warnings raised in Parliament that increasing numbers of elderly people are going missing from their homes should serve as a wake-up call.
These are not isolated incidents.
They point to a growing public health challenge that Zimbabwe has failed to acknowledge with the urgency it deserves.
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Perhaps even more disturbing is that many dementia sufferers continue to be viewed through the dangerous lens of superstition.
Elderly people who wander from home, become confused, forget family members or behave differently are too often labelled witches, mentally unstable or cursed, instead of being recognised as people living with a neurological disease.
Such misconceptions rob elderly citizens of their dignity and expose them to abuse, violence and abandonment.
Dementia is not witchcraft. It is not a curse. It is a medical condition.
While advancing age remains the greatest risk factor, dementia is also associated with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, poor nutrition, physical inactivity and untreated depression.
Increasing evidence also suggests that chronic stress, social isolation and prolonged financial insecurity can worsen cognitive decline and increase the risk of dementia in later life.
Zimbabwe’s economic realities, therefore, cannot be separated from this conversation.
Millions of Zimbabweans have spent years living under extraordinary financial pressure.
Pensioners who worked faithfully for decades now survive on meagre pensions that often fail to cover even a week’s groceries.
National Social Security Authority (NSSA) payouts remain inadequate for many retirees whose purchasing power has been steadily eroded by inflation and the rising cost of living.
Retirement, which should be a period of peace and security, has instead become a daily struggle for survival.
Constant financial anxiety affects mental wellbeing.
Older people worrying about food, medication, rent and utility bills experience prolonged stress that can contribute to depression, anxiety and declining cognitive health.
While stress alone does not directly cause dementia, it is widely recognised as a significant factor affecting overall brain health and quality of life.
Many elderly Zimbabweans are also carrying burdens that should never have become theirs.
Instead of enjoying retirement, countless grandparents continue supporting entire households because their adult children remain unemployed or underemployed.
They pay school fees, buy food, settle medical bills and provide shelter for unemployed sons, daughters and grandchildren.
The country’s unemployment crisis has, therefore, become an inter-generational crisis.
Parents who expected support from their children are instead providing financial and emotional support well into old age.
This relentless pressure, coupled with shrinking incomes and inadequate social protection, creates conditions that undermine both physical and mental health.
Government cannot continue treating dementia as an invisible disease.
Zimbabwe urgently needs a comprehensive national dementia policy that places prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and caregiver support at the centre of public health planning.
Healthcare workers should receive specialised training to recognise dementia early.
Primary healthcare facilities must be equipped to screen elderly patients for cognitive impairment before symptoms become severe
Public education campaigns should be rolled out nationwide to eliminate harmful myths linking dementia to witchcraft and educate families on how to care for affected relatives.
Equally important is strengthening social protection.
Pensions and NSSA benefits should enable older citizens to live with dignity rather than perpetual anxiety.
Expanding access to affordable healthcare, improving nutrition programmes for the elderly and strengthening community-based social services would reduce many of the pressures confronting ageing Zimbabweans.
Communities also have a role to play.
Churches, traditional leaders, civil society organisations and local authorities should establish neighbourhood support networks that help identify elderly people living alone, provide regular welfare checks and assist families caring for relatives with dementia.
Research must also become a national priority.
Zimbabwe cannot effectively respond to a disease it scarcely measures.
Reliable national data on dementia prevalence, diagnosis, treatment outcomes and caregiver needs would provide policy-makers with the evidence required to design effective interventions.
The measure of any society lies in how it treats its most vulnerable citizens.
Zimbabwe’s elderly deserve more than sympathy after they have gone missing, been assaulted or been abandoned.
They deserve recognition, protection, proper healthcare and the dignity that comes with growing old in a society that understands dementia instead of fearing it.
The silent epidemic has already arrived.
The real question is whether Zimbabwe will continue ignoring it until it becomes impossible to ignore.