South Korea's social cost from patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease will be more than 43 trillion won (US$41.98 billion) by 2050, a report said Thursday, urging the state health care agency to include related checkups in health exams for early detection.
According to the report from the National Assembly Budget Office, the prevalence rate of the disease among people 65 and older is expected to rise from 9.58 percent this year to 10.39 percent by 2020, then to 15.06 percent by 2050.