Congress Provides $50 Million Increase to Head Off Alzheimer's Epidemic

Alzheimer's Association
Thursday, 22 October 1998

Boost in Federal Research Funds at Critical Time Lifts Hope of Breakthrough in Alzheimer Research

Stephen McConnell, vice president for public policy of the Alzheimer's Association, made the following comment on enactment of the final federal budget:

This budget makes a vital contribution to our quest for a world without Alzheimer's disease. The increase in federal funds for Alzheimer research to $400 million this year comes at precisely the right time to stop an Alzheimer epidemic that will otherwise hit as the baby boomer generation begins to reach the age of highest risk.

Congress approved a $50 million increase in funding for Alzheimer research, including an increase of more than 15 percent for the National Institute on Aging and the other two institutes that provide major support for Alzheimer research (the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute of Mental Health). And it has instructed the three institutes to use the additional funds "to collaborate and launch a prevention initiative whose goal is to discover therapies that delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease."

Funding for such a prevention initiative has been the top public policy goal of the Alzheimer's Association this year. We are greatly encouraged that Congress shares our sense of urgency and has taken this action to restore Alzheimer's disease as a priority for federal research support.

On behalf of the 19 million Americans whose family members have Alzheimer's disease, and the additional millions who face Alzheimer's in their future, the Association congratulates Congress and the President for taking this important step toward more rapid and far-reaching breakthroughs in treatment and prevention.

For more information, or to contact Alzheimer's Association, see their website at: www.alz.org