Dementia risk reduction in the African context: Multi-national implementation of multimodal strategies to promote healthy brain aging in Africa (the Africa-FINGERS project)

Authors

Chinedu Momoh, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Rachel Maina, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Lukoye Atwoli, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Karen Blackmon, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Edna Bosire, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Gloria Chemutai, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Linda Khakali, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Sylvia Mbugua, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Zul Merali, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Olivera Nesic Taylor,, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Anthony Ngugi, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Cyprian Mostert, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Eunice Muthoni, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Roselyter Riang’a, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Mansoor SalehFollow
Shahin Sayed, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Jasmit Shah, Aga Khan UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Department

Brain and Mind Institute; Internal Medicine (East Africa); Population Health (East Africa); Pathology (East Africa); Imaging and Diagnostic Radiology (East Africa)

Abstract

Dementia prevention in Africa is critically underexplored, despite the continent's high prevalence of modifiable risk factors. With a predominantly young and middle-aged population, Africa presents a prime opportunity to implement evidence-based strategies that could significantly reduce future dementia cases and mitigate its economic impact. The multinational Africa-FINGERS program offers an innovative solution, pioneering culturally sensitive, multidomain interventions tailored to the unique challenges of the region. Leveraging insights from landmark global studies such as Worldwide-FINGERS and Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, the program employs a multideterminant precision prevention framework, grounded in community based systems dynamics. Africa-FINGERS further integrates cutting-edge state-of-the-art multimodal biomarker evaluations tailored to regional contexts, with the goal of advancing brain health and establishing a global standard for dementia prevention. This groundbreaking initiative highlights the potential for scalableand sustainable interventions, thus is poised to transform dementia risk reduction efforts across the continent.

Publication (Name of Journal)

Alzheimer's & Dementia

DOI

https://doi.org/ 10.1002/alz.14344

Recommended Citation

Momoh, C., Maina, R., Atwoli, L., Blackmon, K., Bosire, E., Chemutai, G., Khakali, L., Mbugua, S., Merali, Z., Taylor,, O. N., Ngugi, A., Mostert, C., Muthoni, E., Riang’a, R., Saleh, M., Sayed, S., Shah, J. (2024). Dementia risk reduction in the African context: Multi-national implementation of multimodal strategies to promote healthy brain aging in Africa (the Africa-FINGERS project). Alzheimer's & Dementia, 20(1), 4-16.
Available at: https://ecommons.aku.edu/bmi/446

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.