Thank you. Good morning.
I'm really pleased to be here, Madam Chair. I want to thank all the members of the committee very much for giving the Alzheimer Society of Canada an opportunity to speak before you today.
Before I begin, I just want to comment that over the last several weeks I've had the distinct pleasure of being here in Ottawa to meet with many members of the House of Commons, including visits I've made recently, along with my colleagues at the Health Charities Coalition of Canada. We had a recent day on the Hill.
We came to Ottawa to discuss with parliamentarians three things of incredible importance to our organizations: one, the need for a national dementia strategy; second, the need for increased funding to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research; and third, to discuss specific improvements to income health security. All are of extreme importance to caregivers who are caring for people with dementia.
Overall, I've been very encouraged by the reception that we've had here in Ottawa that we've received to our petitions. I hope the work of this committee and the work of members of Parliament—mostly all of you around this table—will result in real benefit to Canadians who are affected by neurological diseases.
Alzheimer's disease is not a disease that we can ignore. It has an overwhelming impact on those people who develop it and also on the families who care for them. There is a good chance that one of you in this room knows somebody with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. Some of you may have been affected by it, be it a friend, a relative, a colleague, or someone you work with. Alzheimer's disease affects more and more of us every year, and the number of cases continues to rise with our aging population.
Alzheimer's is a form of dementia with no known cause and no known cure. It's a fatal disease; it's terminal. People can live with it for five to seven years after their diagnosis. It's also a degenerative disease, which robs people of their intellect, identity, independence, and dignity.
Right now we know that there are currently 500,000 people in Canada who have Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. We know that this will more than double within a generation, so we're looking forward to 2038.
While there's still much unknown about the disease, we have learned that Alzheimer's disease results in a progressive decline in multiple areas of function. These areas of function include memory, but also reasoning, communication skills, and the skills that people need to carry on their everyday activities. Alongside this decline, unfortunately, many individuals develop psychological symptoms, including depression and changes in mood and behaviour, which can significantly complicate the kind of care they need.
While the number of people affected by dementia in Canada and the associated costs in dealing with this disease are daunting, the impact on those with the illness as well as their families is quite profound.
In our view, Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia should no longer be misconstrued as inevitable consequences of aging, nor can it be acceptable any more to pretend that there's nothing we can do about it.
Alzheimer's disease presents a huge challenge to society, both now and will increasingly in the future. Through the Alzheimer Society's study, Rising Tide—which I hope you've all had the opportunity to have a look at, and if not, we'll be sending it to you—we know that dementia imposes a cost of $15 billion a year today, but within a generation and without concerted government action, the costs will climb to over $150 billion a year.
I know that you, at this committee, have already heard that people who are caring for someone with dementia will experience the challenges associated with the disease in their own unique way. I've heard it said that if you know a person with dementia, that's all you do: you know one person with dementia.
It is important to recognize that there are many different approaches to supporting someone with the disease, and caregivers often need to explore a variety of techniques and strategies to determine what works best for them. Everyone is unique.
The cumulative opportunity cost of informal caregiving for people with dementia represents a substantial cost to our economy. As you've already heard, this burden is not unique to the families of people with dementia. People with Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and other neurological conditions also require tremendous support from family members and other informal caregivers. This, of course, translates into a huge economic cost for caregivers.
To address these problems, the Alzheimer Society is calling for a national strategy to address all neurological conditions. In public policy terms, it seems to us that Alzheimer's disease, along with many of these other neurological conditions, has been largely ignored by policy makers in Ottawa. Today, there is no national or federal strategy for Alzheimer's disease, and the federal programs, research funding, support, and income assistance pale in comparison to the enormous and rapidly escalating health, economic, and social costs and impacts of this devastating disease.
I congratulate all members of the committee for your study on the state of research and the impact that neurological conditions have on Canadian families. The Alzheimer Society urges you to recommend a national brain strategy, a coordinated approach to assisting all those who are living with brain conditions, in your report to the health committee.
We at the Alzheimer Society have been working together and collaborating with Neurological Health Charities Canada, the NHCC, and its members, who I believe are now up to 24.
The aim of a national brain strategy in Canada is to ensure that significant improvements are made to research, prevention, and support services. The simple goal of a brain strategy should be to create a catalyst for change in the way that people with neurological conditions are viewed and cared for in Canada.
We have been told by politicians that there is no appetite for another national health-related strategy. However, we know that national strategies have been hugely successful and have been developed for a long list of other health issues, many of which have a lesser impact on Canadians' health than neurological conditions do.
We know that a rising tide is coming. We know that the need to act is now. The need for a national brain strategy will never be more important nor more urgent than it is at the present time.
Thank you.