President George Vella said that the toughest part of dementia is to see our loved ones seem to lose their own identity.
During the ‘National Dementia Awards’, President Vella said that without such recognition events, we probably would not appreciate enough the dedication and great sacrifices made by people working in every sector of dementia care including relatives, professionals and organisations caring for people with dementia.
The President expressed the hope that experts will find why the number of people with dementia is increasing alarmingly.
“It hurts to see the medical field making huge advances like, for example, what was done in cardiology, but then there is something else that takes your identity away and affects mortality,” said President Vella.
Mrs Miriam Vella, Chairperson of the selection board of the ‘National Dementia Awards’, said that the board received 26 nominations for this third edition, far more than expected.
“All those nominated deserve every praise and gratitude for their work with people with dementia. I learned a lot from this process because the nominations were stories of people’s experiences through the eyes of others, the eyes of people seeing and appreciating your efforts with relatives or clients,” said Mrs Vella while appealing to also keep in mind other people who were not nominated.
Minister for Active Ageing Jo Etienne Abela said that in Malta there was an estimated 6,071 individuals with dementia in 2015 and as the population continues to grow older, the number of people with dementia is expected to increase to around 10,000 people by 2030.
“We should all be grateful for the work done by people in the field of dementia. Their patience, love and dedication are priceless and their genuine care for these people is an extremely remarkable act,” said Minister Abela.
The winners are:
Award for best informal carer – Ms Lea Bellizzi
Award for best professional or team in the dementia field – Mr Stefan Baldacchino
Award for exceptional contribution to dementia – Ms Anne Cuschieri
