Statement: Federal Funding and Staffing Reductions will Hinder Effective Prevention, Treatment, and Care

Today, the Alliance for Aging Research joined with more than 20 leading neurological advocacy organizations on a joint statement urging an immediate halt to funding and staffing cuts that threaten progress in the prevention, early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer’s and related diseases.

We, the undersigned organizations, are deeply concerned that additional reductions in staff and funding for dementia programs across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will reverse progress toward effective prevention, treatment, and care. Half of all American families have been touched by Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, and we have all benefited from the bipartisan commitment to ending this disease.

We count on a strong disease prevention program at the CDC, on research toward cures and care at the NIH, on world-class scientific experts at FDA, on Meals on Wheels and other programs from the Administration for Community Living, and on coordination of all of these efforts through staff at the HHS headquarters. The agencies affected by these cuts are at the heart of the progress America has made toward better understanding how to prevent and treat these devastating diseases. Cuts made without a clear, public plan to continue these efforts will have enduring and tragic consequences for millions of families, increase the economic burden on our nation and on families caring for the millions of Americans with these diseases, and could derail progress toward the goals established under the National Alzheimer’s Project Act and its reauthorization (passed unanimously by Congress in 2024).

We commend the bipartisan calls for greater transparency in how these decisions are being made and urge the Administration to immediately halt any further cuts. It is essential to first engage with stakeholders—patients, caregivers, researchers, and organizations like us—to ensure we protect the progress we’ve made and chart a responsible path forward.

Fiscal efficiency must not come at the expense of patients, caregivers, or the research that offers hope for a cure. We stand ready to work in partnership to find solutions that uphold both public health and financial stewardship.

Signed,

• Alliance for Aging Research
• American Society on Aging
• Association of Population Centers
• Alzheimer’s Association
• Alzheimer’s Impact Movement
• Alzheimer’s Los Angeles
• Alzheimer’s Orange County
• Alzheimer’s San Diego
• Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration
• BrightFocus Foundation
• Caregiver Action Network
• CaringKind
• Family Caregiver Alliance
• Gerontological Society of America
• Hilarity for Charity
• International Association for Indigenous Aging
• Justice in Aging
• The John A. Hartford Foundation
• LEAD Coalition (Leaders Engaged on Alzheimer’s Disease)
• Medicare Rights Center
• National Alliance for Caregiving
• National Association of Social Workers
• National Down Syndrome Society
• National Indian Council on Aging
• The National Minority Quality Forum
• Ohio Council for Cognitive Health
• UsAgainstAlzheimer’s