Alzheimer's: Should the government develop a national strategy for the disease?

By CBC News

A national Alzheimer's strategy is needed to better co-ordinate research, treatment and prevention for the costly and mind-robbing disease, doctors and scientists say.

Co-ordinating the efforts of researchers across Canada could speed up advances, said Dr. Aristotle Voinesko, a physician and investigator at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.

"We need long-term strategies," said Voinesko, who published his genetic findings on who may be at risk for developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease in February in the Archives of General Psychiatry. "That's crucial for good scientific research."

The Alzheimer Society of Canada has long called on the federal government to develop a national strategy to co-ordinate research, prevention and treatment programs. Legislators in the U.S. and England recently approved such national plans, the society said.

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