WASHINGTON, D.C., July 19, 2021 - The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today released their annual professional judgement budget for Alzheimer's and dementia research, requesting an additional $226 million is needed in fiscal year 2023. The funding request was announced during the annual Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care and Services meeting.
"There is significant momentum in the fight against Alzheimer's and other dementia, and the professional judgement budget underscores that leading scientists and researchers are committed to making critical strides that will lead to knowledge about prevention, more effective treatments, and ultimately a cure," said Robert Egge, Alzheimer's Association Chief Public Policy Officer and Alzheimer's Impact Movement (AIM) Executive Director. "We are grateful that Congress has worked in a bipartisan fashion, and consistently recognized how vital it is that NIH receives the necessary investment required to accelerate progress against Alzheimer's."
This is the seventh professional judgement budget for Alzheimer's released by the NIH. In 2014, the Alzheimer's Association and AIM championed and secured support for the passage of the Alzheimer's Accountability Act, which ensures Congress hears directly from NIH scientists on the resources needed to address the Alzheimer's crisis. Alzheimer's is only the third disease to have a professional judgement budget.
Alzheimer's research funding has seen a seven-fold increase since the passage of the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) in 2011. Today, funding for Alzheimer's and dementia research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is $3.2 billion. With strong funding, scientists are able to work at a more rapid pace to advance basic disease knowledge, explore ways to reduce risk, uncover new biomarkers for early diagnosis and drug targeting, and develop potential treatments.
Today more than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, and 11 million more providing unpaid care. And, at a cost of $355 billion a year, Alzheimer's is the most expensive disease in the nation.
