FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, D.C. (May 1, 2019) – UsAgainstAlzheimer’s chairman and co-founder George Vradenburg today released the following statement in response to the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee approving legislation that includes $2.4 billion in funding for Alzheimer’s research at the National Institutes of Health for Fiscal Year 2020.

“We thank Congress for their demonstrated commitment to funding Alzheimer’s research, with funding increasing over 400 percent in the past five years. We appreciate the current $60 million increase in funding over last year, but this number is not commensurate with the magnitude of the Alzheimer’s crisis we face.

“With Alzheimer’s deaths increasing 147% since 2000 and nearly 14 million Americans expected to be suffering from the disease by 2050, we urge our champions in Congress to continue efforts to increase federal funding for Alzheimer’s research, bringing it in line with other critical diseases of our time like cancer and HIV/AIDS. 

“We call on Congress and the Administration to continue the march forward and support a $350 million increase over last year in funding for Alzheimer’s research at the NIH as part of the final FY2020 budget. Patients and families have waited long enough.

“Emerging science is showing us there are pathways beyond the pharmacological to treat Alzheimer’s through risk reduction, early detection, early intervention and possibly even prevention. While the NIH has 140 research studies currently underway on Alzheimer’s and dementia, including 58 focused on non-pharmacological interventions, they continue to lack the resources to fund all the necessary studies. With the rising costs and impact of this disease, we simply cannot leave any stone unturned."