About Parkinson's ZA
Parkinson's in South Africa
According to a Lancet Neurology Report published in October 2018:
-
Neurological disorders are now the leading source of disability globally
-
Parkinson’s Disease is the world’s fastest growing neurological disease
-
Every 2,5 minutes someone in the world dies from Parkinson’s Disease
-
10 million people globally – and growing – have Parkinson’s Disease
-
Little beyond a 50 year old drug is used to treat Parkinson’s Disease
While there is limited data on Parkinson’s Disease in South Africa, it is safe to say that Parkinson’s Disease prevalence is increasing and the burden of Parkinson’s Disease is becoming increasingly important in the context of ageing populations across all cultural and ethnic groupings in South Africa and Africa at large.
​
The Parkinsons and Related Movement Disorder Association, established in 1970, regretfully deregistered in 2020 due to funding constraints. This has created an information and social vacuum for Patients with Parkinson’s Disease, their Families and Carers in South Africa, collectively “People impacted by Parkinsons”. While disparate groupings have been created across many urban centres, these are few and very far between.
​
The treatment of Parkinsons Disease in South Africa today is therefore largely one-dimensional through pharmaceutical treatment with little to no complementary rehabilitative treatment and lifestyle management programmes available to People impacted by Parkinsons.
Mission
The birth of the Parkinsons Disease South Africa NPC (“Parkinson's ZA”) aims to continue the efforts of The Parkinson's and Related Movement Disease in South Africa and to plug the vacuum highlighted above with the following core objective in mind:
To support and assist People impacted by Parkinson’s by, inter alia:
​
-
Promoting public awareness about Parkinson’s so that People impacted by Parkinson’s are informed, enabled and supported;
-
Providing support and lifestyle management tools to promote a better overall quality of life for People impacted by Parkinson’s;
-
Sourcing and disseminating the latest information to People impacted by Parkinson’s;
-
Advocating for research, resources, and supportive policies and systems to support People impacted by Parkinson’s; and
-
Collaborating with the global Parkinson’s community and local allied health professionals to develop resources to support People impacted by Parkinson’s
​
In pursuit of this, we are launching a multidisciplinary ‘model of care’ program designed and rendered by the Parkinson’s Movement and Disorder Society in India. The program is being launched in the Durban metro of KwaZulu Natal and will be replicated in the Johannesburg and Cape Town metros within six to twelve months subject to adequate funding.
