Legislation authorizes $100 million to improve prevention and treatment for Alzheimer’s
47 ABC – New legislation is now in place to authorize over $100 million to improve prevention and treatment for Alzheimer’s.
For the first time, Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act, known as BOLD, will create a public health infrastructure across the country.
Under the legislation, the CDC will authorize $20 million annually over the next five years. This legislation applies a public health approach to reduce risk, detect early symptoms, advance care, and improve data.
It will establish:
- Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias public health centers of excellence dedicated to promoting effective Alzheimer’s disease and caregiving interventions as well as educating the public on Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive decline, and brain health. The centers will implement the CDC’s Healthy Aging Public Health Road Map, and will take key steps to support health and social services professionals as well as families and communities.
- Cooperative agreements with the CDC that will be awarded to State Health Departments to help them meet local needs in promoting brain health, reducing risk of cognitive decline, improving care for those with Alzheimer’s, and other key public health activities.
- Data grants to improve the analysis and timely reporting of data on Alzheimer’s, cognitive decline, caregiving, and health disparities at the state and national levels.
47 ABC spoke to Carol Zimmerman, the Alzheimer’s Association Eastern Shore chapter and says this funding will be extremely helpful. “Those grants will not only help caregivers but help physicians improve early detection and diagnosis, which is important. We’ll be looking at cognitive health, brain health,” Zimmerman says.
The bill backed by Virginia Senator Tim Kaine by passed the just passed the Senate unanimously and passed the House 361-3.
