Ibanez A, Kosik K, for the Latin America and the Caribbean Consortium on Dementia (LAC-CD). COVID-19 in older people with cognitive impairment in Latin America. The Lancet Neurology, 202019, 719-721,https://doi.org/10.
COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and Caribbean countries (LACs) has failed to capture the attention and attract the resources necessary to control it. The wrenching choice between public health and economic welfare that has polarised political debate in the USA and Europe is starker in LACs, where older people and people with dementia are especially susceptible. We want to raise awareness about this grave situation.
The population in LACs tripled between 1950 and 2000. Although LAC populations are still young compared with the USA and western Europe, the rate of ageing is among the highest in the world.1 This pattern of ageing is seen in nearly every country in the region,2 with a shift in dependant populations from young children to older relatives.2 Conditions such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol, which increase the risk of mortality from COVID-19, have become more prevalent.