Obama administration plans to fight Alzheimer's

BETHESDA, Md., May 15 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama plans to fight Alzheimer's disease by funding two major clinical trials and boosting funding for physician training, officials said.

Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, presented the national plan to fight Alzheimer's disease at the Alzheimer's Research Summit 2012: Path to Treatment and Prevention.

The plan, required by the National Alzheimer's Project Act and signed into law in 2011, was developed with input from experts in aging and Alzheimer's disease issues and calls for a comprehensive, collaborative approach across federal, state, private and non-profit organizations. More than 3,600 people or organizations submitted comments on the draft plan.

The president's proposed fiscal year 2013 budget provides a $100 million increase for efforts to combat Alzheimer's disease -- $80 million for research, $4.2 million to improve public awareness, $4 million to support provider education programs, $10.5 million to invest in caregiver support and $1 3 million to improve data collection.

"These actions are the cornerstones of an historic effort to fight Alzheimer's disease," Sebelius said in a statement. "This is a national plan -- not a federal one, because reducing the burden of Alzheimer's will require the active engagement of both the public and private sectors."