WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s Statement in Support of Hillary Clinton’s Plan on Alzheimer’s Disease

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Washington, DC – Jill Lesser, President of the Women’s network of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, released a statement today in support of Hillary Clinton’s plan to effectively treat, prevent and cure Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. 

“This has been a remarkable week for the millions of women suffering from Alzheimer’s, beginning with the historic bipartisan Congressional increase in Alzheimer’s funding to $936 million per year signed into law by President Obama.  And, today, Hillary Clinton’s plan to to prevent, treat, and cure Alzheimer’s by 2025.  It is the most specific and aggressive plan released by any presidential candidate to date, and is particularly important for the emphasis it places on women both as patients and caregivers.

The plan focuses on four critical elements, all top priorities for UsA2: a significant increase in federal funding for Alzheimer’s research to $2 billion a year; a commitment to finding an effective treatment by 2025; a focus on women, African Americans and Latinos who are disproportionately impacted by the disease; and essential support for caregivers who shoulder an almost impossible burden when caring for families and loved ones with the disease.

Among the five million people in the United States that have Alzheimer’s disease, women are the hardest hit. Women make up 65 percent of Americans dying from Alzheimer’s and they take on the vast majority of long-term caregiving responsibilities at great risk to their own health and professional success.  For these reasons, WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s recently launched its We Won’t Wait Campaign, a first of its kind awareness and advocacy initiative focused on harnessing the passion, power and commitment of women to put Alzheimer’s disease and dementia on the top of our nation’s women’s health agenda. 

We could not be more grateful that Hillary Clinton is standing up and seems to be sharing this mantra. We won’t wait any longer for a cure for Alzheimer’s. We won’t wait to help those caring for loved ones. And, we won’t wait any longer for more and effective treatments.  We thank her for the consistency of her support of this cause and urge all presidential candidates, including those who have made a public commitment to increase funding for Alzheimer’s research, to introduce their own comprehensive plan.  Ending Alzheimer’s must not be political or partisan; it’s a family and community issue of enormous urgency.” 

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As a member of the UsAgainstAlzheimer's NetworkWomenAgainstAlzheimer’s unites women across the globe to find a cure for Alzheimer’s.  Our growing network of women is impatient with the slow progress being made in the Alzheimer’s fight and, driven by our passion, is committed to ending current “business-as-usual” approaches to funding, research and advocacy to bring Alzheimer’s out of the shadows and into the spotlight.  Because women won’t wait.