With Alzheimer’s disease projected to impact nearly 16 million Americans by 2050 without intervention, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced bipartisan legislation on Monday to establish a public health response to promote dementia prevention, treatment and care.
The Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act would establish a Centers of Excellence in Public Health Practice within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC’s Healthy Aging Public Health Road Map would be implemented through the centers, and effective dementia care would be promoted by supporting health and social service professionals and also by educating the public about brain health and cognitive decline.
“Alzheimer’s disease is one of the greatest and under-recognized public health threats of our time,” Collins said. “Five and a half million Americans are living with the disease, and that number is soaring as our overall population grows older and lives longer. After decades of expanding biomedical research in Alzheimer’s, we are ready for the next step: to translate research into practice.”
The BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act would authorize $20 million for the CDC to enter into Core Capacity and Enhanced Activity Cooperative Agreements with state health departments. Core capacity funds could be used to establish foundations for state infrastructure, and enhanced activity funds could be used to support public-private agreements that scale state initiatives.
“Alzheimer’s is such a devastating disease that affects millions of Americans and their loved ones, and the more we can do to find a cure, the better,” Capito said. “At the same time, we must also do what we can to ease the pain of those suffering and provide help to caregivers, taking a truly comprehensive approach to this fight. By creating a public health infrastructure, this bipartisan legislation will help us tackle Alzheimer’s on all fronts and move us closer to finding a cure.”
The measure would also allocate $5 million for the CDC to enter into Data Analysis and Reporting Cooperative Agreements. The agreements would help the CDC collect, analyze and distribute data on cognitive decline, caregiving, health disparities and Alzheimer’s trends more quickly and efficiently.
Collins and Capito were joined by U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) in introducing the bipartisan bill. It has generated support from various Alzheimer’s advocacy groups, including the Alzheimer’s Association.
More than 5 million individuals are afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a summary of the bill, with treatment costs in the United States totaling more than $259 billion per year.
“Too often, Alzheimer’s and other dementias are viewed as normal issues of aging, rather than as fatal disease, with devastating effects for caregivers as well,” Harry Johns, the president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, said. “The BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act invests in a nationwide Alzheimer’s public health response, which will improve quality of life for those living with the disease and their caregivers, while reducing costs for both American families and for our country. We deeply appreciate the continued bipartisan leadership of the act’s sponsors in addressing the Alzheimer’s crisis.”