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Canada’s federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose passed through Montreal Wednesday morning to announce an investment of $31.5 million for a national research consortium on Alzheimer’s and other dementias with a focus on preventing and delaying disease and improving the lives of patients and their families.
Dr. Howard Chertkow, who will lead the CCNA, said in a statement Wednesday that the group wants to find a cure for the dread diseases.
“By supplying an infrastructure, shared research platforms, national research teams, and a cohesive research agenda, we hope to accelerate our current progress towards new treatments, better understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and associated diseases, improved quality of life for our patients and their families, and eventually the cures for these conditions,” he wrote.
According to the government, an estimated 747,000 Canadians were living with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia in 2011.
In two decades, it is estimated that 1.4 million Canadians will have dementia, costing the economy almost $300 billion per year.
Ambrose will make another announcement on Thursday in Ottawa at the Canada-France Global Legacy Event, a two-day gathering of about 200 experts from G7 countries on dementia care and treatment, as well as ways of improving the lives of caregivers.
Agencies/Canadajournal
