The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on May 15 released the nation’s first annual National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, marking the beginning of the end of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders as we have known them. The Obama Administration has set an ambitious, achievable and absolutely indispensible roadmap to effectively treat and prevent Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. Now all attention and work must turn to aggressive implementation of the full national plan.
LEAD member organizations worked tirelessly to provide recommendations for inclusion in the national plan and are committed to supporting its comprehensive implementation.
Already, this week, several important implementation steps have begun. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) just concluded a two-day Alzheimer’s Disease Research Summit: Path to Treatment and Prevention. In introducing the national plan at the summit, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius introduced the first education-related strategy: a new Alzheimers.gov Web site designed to provide a one-stop shop for people who want or need to learn more about the disease. In addition, HHS announced new up-to-date training for healthcare professionals. And on the research front, Francis Collins, director of NIH, announced the award of two new major research grants to test potential Alzheimer’s disease therapies.
The national plan is in place, implementation has begun and the Obama Administration is working closely with LEAD member organizations to ensure that the trajectory of Alzheimer’s disease changes dramatically, swiftly and decisively. Congress moved boldly in unanimously passing the National Alzheimer’s Project Act in late 2010 that led to the development and release of this historic national strategy. Now, LEAD calls on Congress to move boldly again in providing robust support for implementation of the national plan by increasing the resources devoted to Alzheimer’s disease research and early diagnosis, streamlining the drug-discovery process and strengthening support for people with Alzheimer’s disease, family caregivers and healthcare professionals.
Two pending resolutions, if passed, would put Congress on record in support of the national plan. Individuals may telephone (using the Capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121) or write to their two United States senators and their representative urging them to co-sponsor Senate Resolution 434 and House Resolution 120, respectively.