The charity Age Scotland has said an opportunity for health ministers to evaluate how effective Scotland’s dementia strategy is has arisen after the release of new figures.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s have been said to be the largest cause of death of women in the country according to new figures released by the National Records of Scotland.

Brian Sloan, chief executive of Age Scotland, said: “As Scotland’s population ages at an alarming rate, the number of people living with dementia over the next 20 years will increase by 50 per cent to over 120,000.

“The older a person gets, the more likely they are to develop dementia and as women on average have a longer life expectancy, they are more likely to be impacted by it.

“Dementia is currently incurable, and while positive developments in treatment are happening more frequently, the critical challenge for the Scottish Government is how to better prevent dementia and to improve the quality of life of those living with it and their carers.

“This is an opportunity for the new set of health ministers to evaluate how effective their current dementia strategy is and look at how it impacts on a wide range of other government responsibilities, ensure that housing, transport and communities are dementia friendly so that Scotland can be better prepared for the future.”

Earlier this year Mr Sloan presented an award to Clydebank podiatry group, Toe-to-Toe Footcare, a volunteer-run service for older and vulnerable patients that stepped in to fill the gap when the NHS withdrew podiatry services for those without a clinical need.