January 06, 2014

Letter to the Editor: Alzheimer's Plan Needs Funding

Read the full letter online here

Plan needs funding

Editor: The Times-Tribune was right on target in its Dec. 27 editorial calling for U.S. leadership in the global effort to end Alzheimer's by 2025.

The United States is the global leader in drug development, and can catalyze leadership in funding innovative Alzheimer's research.

But right now, instead of equipping Alzheimer's researchers with the resources required to combat this disease, we are leaving them hamstrung. This is slowing our pace toward a cure as millions watch in horror as their loved ones fall to this disease.

With the global cost of care for dementia already at $605 billion annually and set to triple in the coming years, it is also setting the stage for a worldwide financing catastrophe.

Now more than ever, the United States must take the lead in this concerted effort against Alzheimer's. It can start by allocating additional resources toward making the G8's goal a reality.

This is not an uncalculated request just for more funding in general, but instead a very specific request that has been discussed and vetted by many Alzheimer stakeholders as described in the recommendations published last year based on an international meeting on Alzheimer's and related neurodegenerative diseases that was held at the University of Pennsylvania to make specific recommendations of how to advance research, therapy and care for these disorders.

JOHN TROJANOWSKI

PHILADELPHIA