It’s time for a national Alzheimer’s plan

We are at a critical juncture where the creation of a strategic plan to address the escalating Alzheimer's crisis is within our grasp, but we need the nation's leaders to fulfill their commitment for the estimated 5.4 million Americans today living with this disease and the millions more tomorrow who may face it. In Iowa, as many as 69,000 live with the disease.

President Obama signed the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) in January 2011 to develop a national plan to address Alzheimer's disease. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a draft framework of the plan.

I am involved because my mother, Edna Wicklund, who lived in Cedar Rapids, suffered from Alzheimer's disease when little was known. That was 30 years ago. Today, there are as many as 131,854 Iowans providing care for loved ones with Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

I am an Alzheimer's Advocate and Alzheimer's Ambassador to Sen. Tom Harkin. I urge you to obtain a copy of the HHS draft framework and share your comments with our nation's leaders at http://napa.alz.org/share-your-feedback.

The time is now because Alzheimer's can't wait.

Gary A. Wicklund

Coralville