Health · Healthcare & Policy · 1 day ago
HHS updates national plan to address Alzheimer’s and dementia
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced an updated national plan for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias during a visit to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The plan sets four priorities: reducing risk, speeding research, improving care coordination and supporting caregivers.
The government says the effort responds to a growing challenge: more than 7 million Americans are affected, and dementia cases are expected to rise to 14 million by 2060.
The FDA also announced a new initiative to develop products or treatments that could prevent or delay cognitive decline.
Officials said early detection matters because brain changes can begin decades before symptoms appear, and the FDA has authorized four blood-based tests to detect Alzheimer’s-related changes.
The updated plan will be carried out through new and ongoing initiatives across 10 divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced an update to the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias on Thursday.
The plan sets four priorities: addressing risk factors, accelerating discoveries, improving care coordination and strengthening caregiver support.
The announcement was made at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The strategy includes investment in projects focused on earlier detection and intervention.
Officials said the effort responds to a disease affecting more than 7 million Americans and rising costs of care.
- Who
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, led at the announcement by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- What
- HHS announced an update to the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias.
- When
- Thursday, October 22, 2026.
- Where
- Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
- Why
- The plan aims to address Alzheimer’s and related dementias through prevention, research, care coordination and caregiver support.
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- Plan
- 2026 update to the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias
- Announcement venue
- Broward Health Medical Center, Fort Lauderdale
- Plan priorities
- Risk factors; discoveries; care coordination; caregiver support
- Americans affected
- More than 7 million
- Florida residents with Alzheimer’s
- Nearly 600,000
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What people are saying
Across 10 HHS divisions, we’re putting these commitments into action in unprecedented ways through new and some ongoing initiatives
We need to ask a more ambitious question: What can we do to prevent or delay cognitive decline before it begins?
Taxpayers can’t keep up with the spiraling cost of dementia care
The best thing is to do exactly what the secretary said — if we can prevent this, think of how many lives we change, not just for them, but for their family and caregivers.