Alzheimer's Blogging:

Please read the letter that was sent to me. Please remember you are not alone. Peace be with you.


NAPA Becomes Law

Dear Marie,

Following the unanimous approval of Congress earlier this month, and the thousands of e-mails and messages you and other advocates sent to the White House last week, I'm pleased to share that today President Obama signed the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) into law. Once implemented, NAPA will ensure our nation has what Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius calls an "aggressive and coordinated national strategy" to confront the present and rapidly escalating Alzheimer crisis.

Today is a day to celebrate. This is a victory for the 5.3 million people who live with Alzheimer's in this country and the nearly 11 million caregivers. It is a victory for you and more than 300,000 other advocates who stood up and demanded that our nation's leaders create a plan for combating this disease. The journey to take NAPA from concept to law of the land is a victory for all of us.

Tomorrow we will return to the hard but rewarding work that lies ahead. NAPA is a milestone and a very important step forward, but it is not the destination. Our destination is a world without Alzheimer's and we can only arrive there through therapies that stop this disease and improved care and support for those contending with it. Rest assured that we will work tirelessly to maintain the momentum evident today. We will work to ensure NAPA is implemented effectively so that it lives up to its promise, and we will work to advance our other legislative priorities for 2011, including a major, immediate increase in research funding.

As you know, there is no time to waste.

Please continue to stand with us in the fight against Alzheimer's. We can't succeed without you. And please ask others to join us in this effort. We'll need to call on every available voice to succeed.

Again, congratulations and thank you.

Harry Johns
President and CEO
Alzheimer's Association

Sincerely,
Marie Fostino
Alzheimer's A Caretakers Journal
Seaboard Press An Imprint of James A Rock Pub., Co.
www.mariefostino.com
www.mariefostino.blogspot.com