WASHINGTON, DC, May 23, 2017 – The Administration’s FY 2018 budget request, calling for damaging decreases in  funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is a potentially crushing blow for the 5.5 million Americans with Alzheimer’s and related dementias, and their caregivers, who are desperate for a cure.

UsAgainstAlzheimer’s strongly rejects any loss in funding levels for Alzheimer’s research and calls on Congressional leaders to continue to aggressively champion much-needed progress against this disease that will triple in the coming decades and currently costs the nation more than $250 billion annually.

As part of a near $8 billion reduction in overall NIH funding, the Administration’s FY 2018 budget request would reduce funding at the National Institute on Aging, the lead institute for Alzheimer’s and dementia research, by nearly $750 million.

UsAgainstAlzheimer’s will continue to work tenaciously with Congress to ensure that, in the near future, Alzheimer’s federal funding equals at least 1 percent of the total cost of Alzheimer’s and related dementias. For every dollar spent on Alzheimer’s research, approximately 178 times more is being spent to care for those who suffer with the disease.

“The President’s budget request doesn’t reflect recent bipartisan agreement that funding NIH will take us further down the path to an Alzheimer’s cure,” said George Vradenburg, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Co-Founder and Chairman. “To defeat Alzheimer’s, I urge Congress, in the strongest of terms, to stand firm against these proposed cuts and continue to act on behalf of the millions of Americans, and their caregivers, who are stricken with this incurable disease.”

Since its founding in 2010, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s has worked earnestly to triple public funding for Alzheimer’s research at NIH. Recently, the organization was instrumental in pushing for a $400 million increase for Alzheimer’s research in the FY 2017 omnibus – a bipartisan recognition that cures are cheaper than care.

UsAgainstAlzheimer’s looks forward to working with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders on FY 2018 budget appropriations, representing the voice of individuals living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, their care partners,  and researchers.

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UsAgainstAlzheimer's is an innovative, patient-centered non-profit demanding – and delivering – a solution to Alzheimer’s. Driven by the suffering of millions of families, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s presses for greater urgency from government, industry and the scientific community in the quest for an Alzheimer's cure – accomplishing this through its own patient-centered effective leadership, collaborative advocacy and strategic investments.

Founded in 2010, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s has worked across sectors to: (1) secure the national goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s by 2025; (2) help secure nearly $1 billion in additional public funding for Alzheimer’s research over the past few years; (3) drive global efforts that resulted in the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations, the G7 group, to embrace a similar 2025 goal and to call for greater levels of research investment and collaboration; (4) transform the system of Alzheimer’s clinical trials for greater speed, efficiency and quality; and (5) forge a global process of industry, regulators and payers to bring greater clarity to the approval and payment of innovative medicines for Alzheimer’s.

Contact: Tim Tassa

Phone: 202-263-2580

Email: [email protected]