Sure, I would be happy to do that.
You're right in saying mental health affects everyone. I think the more we know about it, the more we recognize that it is part of every aspect of health care. It really is, and it's an area where research grows, and the more research we have, I think the better interventions we see, which is great.
Obviously we've made significant investments in mental health, both on the research side and the promotion side. We created, of course, the Mental Health Commission of Canada, which has developed a national strategy for ensuring best practices across the country.
I would say that Alzheimer's is one of the foremost challenges to mental health today, and it's been a key investment target for our government through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. We've invested more than $146 million now in research specific to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, including nearly $27 million in one year alone, in 2011-12.
We have also created the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging, which was launched in March of this year. This particular initiative brings together all of the relevant Canadian expertise and acts basically as a research hub for all aspects of neurodegenerative processes affecting cognition, including Alzheimer's.
We are also active at the international level. CIHR is very active in supporting research through what's called the international collaborative research strategy for Alzheimer's disease. This particular strategy's goal is to prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's through early intervention and diagnosis. It's also focused on improving the quality of life for those who are afflicted and for their caregivers, which is interesting. As you well know, caregivers are deeply affected when their loved ones develop dementia and Alzheimer's. It also improves access to quality care and enables our health system to deal more efficiently with the rising number of affected individuals.
It seems to me, from what I've seen, that it's working. To date, we've been able to leverage an initial $13.4 million to over almost double that—actually more than double that—through international partnerships, so it helps us to partner with other countries and other organizations.
Through our federal responsibilities, which is in aboriginal communities, of course, we have also invested significantly. We've committed over $260 million annually now to target mental health issues in aboriginal communities, and our budget last year announced an additional $4 million specifically for mental health services for first nations.
So all of this, I think, plays a big part in dealing with mental health issues. These investments obviously ensure not only that our health researchers have the resources they need, but that then, of course, corresponds with innovative strategies and also on-the-ground support for those who are practitioners and physicians.