U.S. Representatives Chris Smith (NJ-04) and Maxine Waters (CA-43), House co-Chairs of the Bipartisan, Bicameral Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease, wrote a letter to the President this week asking for additional federal resources to be directed to fighting Alzheimer’s in the Administration’s upcoming 2016 budget.
“We believe that an increase in resources for Alzheimer’s research is both necessary and a smart investment that will lower future government spending,” the letter stated. “Similar investments in research for other diseases have yielded tremendous results: patients have access to new treatments, and death rates are decreasing. At the same time, mortality due to Alzheimer’s is escalating dramatically, and it is unique among the top ten causes of death in that it cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed. That said, there is promising research in the pipeline that holds great hope for Alzheimer’s patients and their families. The research community is poised to make important contributions toward the treatment of this disease through clinical trials and by investigating new therapeutic targets if adequate resources are available.
"For these reasons, we urge you to call for an additional $200 million in Alzheimer’s research in the coming fiscal year and work with us to develop a plan to meet our ultimate goal of a $2 billion annual investment within the next five years.” (Click here to read the letter)
Alzheimer’s is costing Americans more than $200 billion a year, yet the federal government is spending less than three tenths of one percent of that amount (an estimated $566 million in 2014) on research, far less than other deadly diseases. The Omnibus Appropriations bill for FY2014 did provide a $100 million increase at the National Institute of Aging to enhance Alzheimer’s research, but the Advisory Council established by the 2010 National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA, P.L. 111-375)—the House version of which as co-authored by Smith—estimates the government will need to devote $2 billion a year to Alzheimer’s research to reach the goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s disease by 2025.
Smith, who also is chairman of the House subcommittee which oversees global health issues, held the first ever congressional hearing examining the global strategies to address Alzheimer’s disease, entitled“Global Strategies to Combat the Devastating Health and Economic Impacts of Alzheimer’s Disease” in 2011, and a second in 2013.
Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States, with a 68 percent increase in deaths caused by Alzheimer’s in the last 10 years. Alzheimer’s disease, a degenerative condition characterized by steadily deteriorating thinking and memory skills, currently has no cure. In New Jersey, an estimated 170,000 Garden State residents suffered from this form of dementia in 2014, and 443,000 caregivers provided unpaid care.
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