National Alzheimer’s Plan to be Released Wednesday
at Senate Aging Committee
Star-studded witness list: Maria Shriver, Newt
Gingrich, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Sen. Bob Kerrey
The ASG Executive
Director Robert Egge and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, ASG
co-chair.
March 24, 2009 – The Senate Special Committee on
Aging will host a hearing tomorrow on Alzheimer’s disease that will be
packed with witnesses with well known names, including Maria Shriver,
Newt Gingrich, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Sen. Bob Kerrey. It can
be viewed live by video hookup provided by the committee.
The purpose of the hearing is to create a platform
for the Alzheimer’s Study Group, an independent coalition of the
country’s leading experts on Alzheimer’s, to release their latest
findings and a National Alzheimer's Strategic Plan the group has
developed over the past 10 months.
They also hope to win support for
their goals from patients, caregivers, advocates, public policymakers
and the general public.
Former Supreme Court Justice O’Connor, former House
Speaker Gingrich and Sen. Kerrey are members of the ASG.
The ASG was established on July 11, 2007 under the
auspices of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease with the
charge of creating a National Alzheimer's Strategic Plan to overcome
America’s mounting Alzheimer's crisis. With the delivery of this plan
tomorrow, the members of Alzheimer’s Study Group will end their service.
On May 14, 2008, Justice O’Connor and former
Speaker Gingrich presented testimony to a special hearing of the U.S.
Senate Special Committee on Aging, convened by Chairman Senator Herbert
Kohl (D-WI) specifically to hear updates on the fight against
Alzheimer’s disease. \
● As many as 5.3 million people in the
United States are living with Alzheimer’s.
● Alzheimer's and dementia triple
healthcare costs for Americans age 65 and older.
● Every 70 seconds, someone develops
Alzheimer’s.
● Alzheimer's is the sixth-leading
cause of death.
● The direct and indirect costs of
Alzheimer's and other dementias to Medicare, Medicaid and
businesses amount to more than $148 billion each year.
These are just a few of the facts from
the Alzheimer’s Association’s new report,
2009 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures. The report is a
comprehensive statistical abstract of U.S. data on Alzheimer’s
disease
Witnesses will also underscore the need for
community support for both home and facility-based caregivers, and the
need for education and training for those caring for Alzheimer’s
patients, according a news release from the office of Sen. Kohl, who
will conduct tomorrow’s hearing.
Shriver will be giving testimony as a caregiver.
Also on the witness list is Larry Butcher, Chairman of the Board of
Directors, Alzheimer's Community Care.
The disease affects over five million Americans and
their families. The committee release says amost 10 million Americans
are currently caring for a person with Alzheimer’s disease and other
dementias.
The hearing, “The Way Forward: An Update From the
Alzheimer's Study Group,” will be at 10:30 a.m. in Room 106 of the
Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.
The hearing will be webcast from the committee
webpage:
www.aging.senate.gov. It can be watched lived are after the hearing.
Following the hearing, ASG members Gingrich,
O'Connor, and Dr. David Satcher will discuss the report on NPR's "Talk
of the Nation." Listen live via webcast
here at 2:00 p.m.
