What could easily have ended in real tragedy when 45-year-old dementia patient Chan Wai-lan went missing on Sunday after walking too far ahead of her 70-year-old mother was averted only through the relentless efforts of hundreds of people searching for Chan. Some 700 emergency workers, including police and fire department staff along with Government Flying Service and Civil Aid Service personnel, were mobilized within hours of the alarm raised by her mother. Indeed, it is in adversity that one often sees a person's true colors. The same can also be said of a government. No fatal delays occurred to stop them getting the job done. We salute all those who took part in the rescue operation which found Chan on Wednesday.

The event, however, does highlight the prevalence of dementia in our society. It is estimated that in Hong Kong 9.3 percent of elderly people aged over 70 suffer from dementia of different levels of severity. This represents over 70,000 elderly people with dementia.

A joint study by the Department of Health and Chinese University of Hong Kong's Department of Psychiatry in 2006 on elderly health services showed that Alzheimer's disease was the cause of dementia in 73.5 percent of cases, vascular dementia 22.4 percent, others 4.1 percent. All these are worrying statistics.

And because of our low birth rate, it seems that institutional care, rather than home care, will be how most Hong Kong families will deal with their parents if they have dementia. The upcoming Mother's Day will help focus our attention on this. Perhaps we can turn to the mainland for inspiration.

Recognizing the difficult road ahead, the mainland is beginning to educate the public and medical community about dementia. Big cities are making plans for purpose-built new facilities, like the Shanghai No 3 Elderly Home - a red-brick residential complex equipped with a hair salon, cinema, game rooms and a karaoke suite offering the latest in pop music.

The residents are not yuppies. They are older patients with Alzheimer's disease or other dementia in a nursing home, which is on the forefront of a new effort by the city government to deal with its exploding elderly population.

Here in Hong Kong, we need to decide whether we should build at least one such well-equipped nursing home for elderly dementia patients in each district - as is being planned in Shanghai. If we can afford it, and chose not to, it speaks volumes about how Hong Kong treats some of its most vulnerable citizens. We must decide now!

(HK Edition 05/05/2016 page9)