People living with dementia in Cyprus are among the most neglected patient groups in the country. Despite the fact that dementia is a serious, progressive and incurable disease, it is not institutionally recognised as a disability. As a result, people with dementia and their families are deprived of basic rights and state benefits.
Alexia Karaiskaki Achilleos, secretary of the Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias Association “Mi-Me-Lismonei”, describes with clarity the reality faced by patients and carers alike. Her assessment points to a system that leaves families exposed, unsupported and largely on their own.
Care without structure
The absence of adequate public care structures, she explains, pushes many families towards private solutions. In most cases, this means employing foreign carers who can assist with hygiene and safety. However, as she stresses, they cannot replace specialised care or the scientifically grounded cognitive and psychosocial support that dementia requires.
In the early stages of the disease, people with dementia can and should remain active. According to Karaiskaki Achilleos, participation in day care centres offering cognitive and physical stimulation, along with opportunities for social interaction, can significantly improve quality of life and slow the progression of the disease. By contrast, remaining at home without stimulation or structured activity often leads to faster deterioration.
The situation becomes even more difficult in advanced stages, when needs increase dramatically and require specialised equipment, home nursing care and constant support. Yet state allowances and benefits remain limited, leaving families to shoulder an increasingly heavy burden alone.
Alzheimer Europe 2025: the numbers
According to the Alzheimer Europe 2025 report, an estimated 16,268 people in Cyprus are living with dementia. This corresponds to 1.19 percent of the total population. Projections suggest that by 2050 the figure will double, reaching 2.37 percent.
The distribution largely reflects population ageing. The highest number of cases is recorded in the 80 to 84 age group, with 3,261 people affected. However, dementia is not confined to advanced age. In 2025, 805 people in Cyprus living with dementia were between the ages of 30 and 59.
These projections take into account demographic trends and, in particular, the continued increase in life expectancy, despite the temporary impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality rates across Europe.
Age as the dominant risk factor
The findings come as no surprise to specialists. Savvas Papakostas, professor of neurology and practising neurologist, explains that dementia increases sharply with age. Among people over 65, prevalence ranges between 5 and 8 percent, while in those over 85 it reaches around 30 percent. The risk, he notes, doubles every five years after the age of 65.
Age is identified in the report as the primary risk factor. As life expectancy continues to rise in Europe, the number of people living with dementia is expected to increase further in the coming decades.
New treatments, limited access
The Alzheimer Europe report highlights significant progress in recent years in the development of disease modifying treatments, particularly for Alzheimer’s disease. At the same time, it warns that European health systems may not be ready to deliver them.
These treatments require early and accurate diagnosis, confirmation through biomarkers and, in some cases, additional tests such as MRI scans due to potential side effects and strict eligibility criteria.
Papakostas confirms that anti amyloid therapies are not currently available in Cyprus. Some have been approved in the United States and the United Kingdom, and there are proposals for approval at EU level. Their cost can reach €25,000, while access remains complex.
Such treatments are not suitable for all patients. They require precise diagnosis and specific genetic and clinical criteria. Certain patients may be excluded due to increased risk of side effects, some of which can be severe or even fatal.
The importance of early diagnosis
Papakostas explains that the term “senile dementia” is an umbrella covering multiple forms of the disease. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for approximately 60 to 70 percent of cases.
Early symptoms typically involve memory impairment, especially recent memory, or other cognitive functions. These changes may be noticed either by the individual or by family members. Early recognition is critical for diagnosis and management.
In Cyprus, Papakostas believes progress has been made in this area. General practitioners are increasingly informed and trained on relevant protocols, enabling earlier referrals for specialist assessment.
National planning gaps
Serious gaps remain in case registration and support structures. Karaiskaki Achilleos stresses that Cyprus lacks reliable and up to date data on the number of people living with dementia. More accurate recording, she argues, should be based on information from personal doctors, allowing the state to design policies based on real needs rather than estimates.
At institutional level, she recalls that a Multidisciplinary Committee on Dementia had been established in the past to address these issues. Its operation was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not been reactivated since.
She also underlines the need to revise the National Strategic Plan for Dementia in line with international guidance. The World Health Organization’s Global Action Plan treats dementia as a public health priority and focuses on awareness, risk reduction, early diagnosis, care and support for carers.
Among the association’s key demands are improved training for health professionals, upgraded services, better case registration, legislative protection for financial and property matters, and easier transport for patients and carers.
Structures: the state remains absent
The lack of infrastructure remains the central problem. In Larnaca, the association is in the process of reopening a Day Care Centre with a new strategic vision, driven by rising demand. The effort relies largely on volunteer work, seeking to fill a gap the state has failed to cover adequately.
As numbers grow and needs become more complex, the burden on people with dementia and their families continues to increase. The question remains whether institutional and practical gaps will be addressed in time.
The Silent Struggle on the Other Side: Carers and Guardians
“I buried him the day he left our home.”
Ioanna Kountouri speaks to Politis about her experience caring for her husband, who lived with Alzheimer’s disease. Through her testimony, she sheds light on the silent struggle of carers, the loneliness, social stigma and psychological exhaustion that accompany daily care.
After his death, the absence of adequate support structures led her to help establish Ithaki, as a response to a gap she had experienced firsthand.
The beginning
The diagnosis came in 2011. He passed away in 2016. She recalls sitting on their veranda after returning from a trip to Canada when he told her that the words were in his mind but could not reach his mouth. In effect, he diagnosed himself. She had not noticed.
At first, panic set in. She did not understand what the diagnosis meant. What followed was a daily ordeal, not of whether but of when the next stage would arrive.
Invisible decline
At the beginning, nothing seemed wrong. He appeared normal, educated and socially adept, capable of masking his difficulties. In public, he would greet people politely, then whisper to her asking who they were.
She gradually became his eyes and his voice.
Living in constant fear
Despite guidance from specialists, the anxiety never disappeared. There were moments no one prepares you for. He went missing. Another day he took the car while she waited outside the house, praying he would return. On one occasion he walked a long distance back to their old neighbourhood. The fear was overwhelming.
Absolute loneliness
Daily life as a carer, she says, is absolute loneliness. People do not know how to behave. Even relatives distance themselves, not out of malice but discomfort. You are left managing everything, from preventing burns to dressing routines, from safety risks to financial control.
The responsibility extends beyond care to anticipating situations you never know when will arise.
The moment of separation
Eventually, her own health began to suffer. Her children asked what would happen if something happened to her. That is when the decision was made. She says death begins the day they leave home. She buried him then, even though she visited him three times a day.
It was the right decision, and the most painful one she ever made.
A system that offers no space
There were no suitable facilities. No place where he could be safely occupied for a few hours so she could rest. You cannot be the sole carer twenty four hours a day. That absence led her to help create Ithaki, not as an idea but as an answer to a lived gap.
What carers often need most, she says, is not practical help but psychological support. Someone to listen. A space to speak.
Today, she has become the voice she once needed. She did everything she could.
This article was first posted on Politis' Sunday paper