Alert

For years, government funding of Alzheimer’s research has trailed comparable funding of other major disease research, by a very wide margin. Thanks to the efforts of Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and his colleagues on the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, that funding gap may now be narrowing.

I am writing to thank Sen. Blunt for his leadership in obtaining subcommittee approval of an increase in Alzheimer’s research funding to approximately $350 million, a 60 percent increase. I, along with Alzheimer’s advocates across the nation, applaud this historic action.

Alzheimer’s is a devastating and costly disease that has been underfunded for far too long. If this increase in funding becomes law, it will be the largest annual increase in federal Alzheimer’s research funding ever, and will be a significant step toward accomplishing our national goal of finding a treatment to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s by 2025.

With over 5 million Americans living with this awful disease today, and a projected 16 million by 2050, there is an urgent need to increase our nation’s awareness and investment in Alzheimer’s research funding. For those living with Alzheimer’s today and for our future generations, the time is now to step up our efforts to prevent, delay and cure this devastating disease.

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