NIH States $597 Million in Additional FY 2019 Funding Needed for Alzheimer's Research

Budget analysis estimates resources needed to meet research goals of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act, authored by Senator Collins, in 2011 Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Susan Collins, the Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, released the following statement after the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced today that $597 million in additional FY 2019 funds will be needed to meet the goal of preventing or effectively treating Alzheimer’s by 2025. This goal was established by the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, which was created under the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA), authored by Senator Collins and then-Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN), in 2011. “Every 66 seconds, someone in America develops Alzheimer’s disease. The disease is devastating to said Senator Collins. Individuals and their families, and it is deadly. Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. It is the only one of our nation’s most deadly diseases without an effective means of prevention, treatment, or a cure,” "In addition to the human suffering it causes, Alzheimer’s costs the United States an estimated $259 billion a year, including $175 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid, yet we are spending just a fraction of that amount on research. While we have made significant progress, today’s announcement indicates that we must continue to do more to meet the goals we established through the National Alzheimer’s Project Act – to achieve a world in which Alzheimer’s can be treated effectively, cured, or prevented by 2025.” This year, NIH is committing $1.414 billion to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia research, compared to just $503 million in FY 2012. Earlier this year, Senator Collins led a bipartisan letter to the President, urging him to continue making Alzheimer’s and dementia research at NIH a top priority. Approximately 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease today, including 37,000 in Maine. It has been estimated that nearly one out of two of the baby boomer generation reaching 85 will develop Alzheimer's if our current trajectory is not altered.