Alzheimer Society Applauds Government of Canada's Research Investment in Neurological Conditions
"This is a historic day for our community. The Government of Canada, through Prime Minister Harper and Minister Aglukkaq, has demonstrated meaningful leadership in making neurological conditions a priority health, social and economic issue in Canada."
Joyce Gordon, chair of the Neurological Health Charities of Canada.
Canadians touched by dementia, as well as many other neurological conditions, celebrated the announcement of $15 million in research funding, made June 5 by The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Canada's Minister of Health, at the MaRS Centre in Toronto.
The funding, an initiative spearheaded by the Neurological Health Charities of Canada (NHCC), will fund the first-ever national study on the prevalence and impact of neurological diseases in Canada.
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| Members of the Neurological Health Charities of Canada (NHCC), along with Barrie MP Patrick Brown, applaud the Minister's announcement. |
"The NHCC is pleased to have brought this issue to the government's attention, and we applaud the commitment of $15 million as a critical step in tackling an incredibly serious crisis facing individuals, families, and our society overall," said Joyce Gordon chair of the NHCC.
The study will give the NHCC and the government a clear picture of the state of neurological diseases in Canada, and give Canadians living with these diseases and their caregivers a chance to tell their story. The study will be completed over a four year period, and a comprehensive report will be published in the final year of the study
"We need to know more about some of the risk factors that may contribute to a person developing a neurological disease. We need to know more about the health services that are in place, how they are used and how much those services cost. We want to know how much they cost now and how much they are projected to cost over the next 20 years," said Minister Aglukkaq.
The $15 million in funding was a commitment made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the final days of the 2008 fall election campaign, money that was again promised in the Speech from the Throne.
"If we are armed with this knowledge," continued Minister Aglukkaq, "we will be better able to help alleviate some of the burden associated with these diseases. It will allow both the government and health charities to better develop and plan their programs and health services."
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| The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, announces $15 million in funding for a four year study into the impact of neurological diseases on Canadian society. |
Stakeholder representative Derrick Walton, a Barrie resident living with ALS, spoke on behalf of those personally affected by neurological conditions, applauding the work of the NHCC, and government's funding commitment.
"It has been determined that when considered in terms of death and disability the current burden of brain disorders outweighs that of cancer and cardiovascular conditions combined," said Walton. "Although the specifics of these conditions may be unique, people with neurological disorders and their families have much in common."
The NHCC is a collective of organizations that represent people with chronic, often progressive, neurological and/or neuromuscular diseases, disorders, conditions and injuries in Canada. The NHCC's role is to provide leadership, evaluating and advancing new opportunities for collaboration specific to advocacy, education and research projects, related to brain health. The Alzheimer Society is a founding member of the NHCC, which was formed in 2008.
The Alzheimer Society believes strongly in the work of the NHCC, and in the four-year study which will help shed light on impact of all neurological conditions.
"Despite the enormous impact of the more than 1,000 neurological and psychiatric diseases, disorders and injuries, there is very little understanding of these conditions as one grouping," says Debbie Benczkowski, CEO for the Alzheimer Society of Canada. "The lack of detailed data regarding incidence, prevalence and impact of chronic neurological disease and disorders in Canada is a critical barrier to advocating for Canadians affected by these conditions, and now is the time to change that."
The work on the $15 million study will begin around the same time that work on the Alzheimer Society's own impact study, Rising Tide: The Impact of Dementia on Canadian Society, is finishing up.
Scheduled for public release in January 2010, Rising Tide will provide us with the prevalence and economic impact of dementia both now, and into the future. It is the hope of the Society that the federal government will look to the Rising Tide study as a platform for evidence based policy solutions for dementia that can be implemented now, solutions that could be replicated for other neurological conditions once the $15 million, four year study is complete.
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