Dear Editor,

As a volunteer advocate and ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Association in the Third Congressional District, I would like to thank Congressman Drew Ferguson for his co-sponsorship of a key legislative effort in the support of Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure Act. (S.2076/H.R.4256).

Endorsed by the Alzheimer’s Association, the BOLD Infrastructure Act would create an Alzheimer’s public health infrastructure across the country to implement effective Alzheimer’s interventions including early detection and diagnosis, reducing risk and preventing avoidable hospitalizations.

In my work with the association, I understand the physical and emotional costs of the disease. Being one of my mother’s caregivers on a limited basis, I witnessed my younger sister quit her job to care for mom day in and day out. My sister’s long-term caregiving eventually compromised her own health. I constantly encounter this scenario over and over from caregivers I work with. Alzheimer’s is the most expensive disease in America.

Alzheimer’s costs the country more than $277 billion a year, which is why we need the BOLD Infrastructure Act.  If we are going to end Alzheimer’s disease, we must start treating it like the public health threat that it is. Join me in thanking Rep. Drew Ferguson for co-sponsoring the BOLD Act and asking Sen. Johnny Isakson and Sen. David Perdue to fight for the millions of Americans affected by the disease by sponsoring the BOLD Act.

FLORENCE ROGERS

Moreland