On Friday, World Alzheimer’s Day, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), a leader in Congress in fighting for more funding of research, called for the U.S. to redouble its efforts in treating Alzheimer’s disease.

“Alzheimer’s is a cruel disease, robbing its victims of their memories and robbing their family and friends of the person they know and love,” said Smith, Chairman of the House global health subcommittee. “The majority of people with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia have not even received a diagnosis, especially in the developing world, and so they are unable to access the treatment they so desperately need. We must re-commit ourselves to funding of Alzheimer’s treatment and research on a global level to combat this disease which threatens to only expand its reach in the coming decades.”

Smith is the co-founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s disease, which aims to bring awareness, funding, and research of Alzheimer’s into the spotlight. He has been a champion of Alzheimer’s research and awareness while in Congress, as the task force has worked successfully to help triple research dollars for Alzheimer’s from just under $600 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 to $1.4 billion in FY 2017, with $1.8 billion allocated in the FY 2018 Omnibus Appropriations bill.

Smith, who is also Chairman of the House global health subcommittee, has held four Congressional hearings on global strategies to treat and prevent Alzheimer’s and related dementias in 2017, 2014, 2013, and 2011. He has also sponsored legislation to ensure that the U.S. is committed to fighting the disease.

Recently, key provisions of Smith’s Kevin and Avonte’s Law passed in the Omnibus appropriations bill in March and became law. Smith’s legislation funded crucial wandering prevention programs for patients with Alzheimer’s, providing grants to local law enforcement, health care agencies, and other organizations for education and training, to prevent wandering which can be fatal for persons with dementia. The legislation also re-authorized and expanded the Missing Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Alert Program to become the Missing Americans Alert Program. 

The Task Force also partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association on passage of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) (PL 111-375), legislation that Smith co-authored and which established an Advisory Committee of private and federal experts to work with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to comprehensively assess and address Alzheimer’s research, institutional services and home and community-based care, set up national goals for the U.S. to have successful treatment and pre­vention of Alzheimer’s by 2025. NAPA became law in 2011.

Smith also is an original cosponsor of HR 4256, the “Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act” in the 115^th Congress, which would establish Alzheimer’s Centers of Excellence around the country.

Proper and early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is critical, and Smith’s Health Outcomes, Planning, and Education (HOPE) for Alzheimer’s Act sought to provide for this; Medicare adopted an amended version of the HOPE benefit to allow coverage of a one-time comprehensive care planning session for Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers.

An estimated 5.7 million people are living with Alzheimer’s in the United States, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, including one in 10 individuals age 65 and over and 32 percent of people age 85 and over. An estimated 180,000 New Jersey resi­dents suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease, with the number expected to increase 16.7 percent to 210,000 in the year 2025.

Combined Medicaid and Medicare spending on people with Alzheimer’s totals $186 billion, but is expected to skyrocket to $750 billion (in 2018 dollars), by the year 2050.