Advocates Want the National Alzheimer's Project Act to Take Shape Around These Key Issues
by Alice Tease on 12/07/11
Today, an estimated 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, and by 2050 as many as 16 million Americans will have the disease. These numbers are staggering, and if nothing is done to challenge the trajectory of this disease, it could crush the nation's health care system, surpassing $1 trillion in costs annually by mid-century. It is the sixth leading cause of death--and the only disease that currently has no means of prevention, a cure, or even an effective way to slow it's progress. We have to take action, now!
Over 43,000 advocates from around the country were a part of the National Alzheimer's Project Act's input process. During this process, individuals expressed the objectives that they desired for NAPA to address. Key concerns included increasing Alzheimer's awareness and the scope of the disease's impact, creating an environment that would offer more effective treatments faster, having a higher standard and quality of care throughout the disease process, providing a support network for caregivers, and providing better care in underserved communities.
Harry Jones, the CEO of the Alzheimer's Association, issued the following statement. "Individuals, families and communities are at the center of the escalating Alzheimer's crisis. Thousands of these individuals shared their experiences from the frontlines," said Harry Johns, president and CEO of the Alzheimer's Association. "Americans who participated in this process want the nation's leaders to know Alzheimer's forever changes lives. In the end, these individuals want and deserve a transformational plan that urgently addresses their needs."
"It's clear that those who participated in these input sessions do not want this opportunity to be a symbolic overture but instead the beginning of real, transformational action," added Robert Egge, vice president of public policy for the Alzheimer's Association."We hope those developing the National Alzheimer's Plan will be inspired and guided by the challenges, experiences and needs echoed throughout the report."
The Alzheimer's Association's Alzheimer's from the Frontlines: Challenges a National Alzheimer's Plan Must Address report can be viewed at www.alz.org/napa.
