Thank you, Barry.

Good morning.

Brain disorders like Alzheimer's are highly disabling and chronic, placing an enormous burden on those affected, their caregivers, their social environment, health care systems and society in general. Brain ill health leads to enormous human suffering and restricts the independence of those living with a brain aging disorder, not least as a result of disability and the need for special care. Without significant decisions and investments, the burden of brain aging diseases will become unbearable. It is likely to lead to a further increase in suffering of those affected as well as threatening the sustainability of our health and social care systems.

No long-term effective solutions exist today. As our population is aging and mortality rates from Alzheimer's keep increasing, it's no wonder Alzheimer's has now moved ahead of cancer as the most feared disease. Yet annual research funding of Alzheimer's and related dementias continues to significantly lag behind other disease states.

Canada currently spends close to $50 million per year on dementia research. Although Canadian researchers are doing great work both nationally and on the international front, dementia research in Canada is severely underfunded.

The 2016 Senate report, “Dementia in Canada: A National Strategy for Dementia-Friendly Communities”, recommends investment in dementia research equal to 1% of annual care by the Alzheimer Society of Canada. This would translate to approximately $100 million per year in investment in dementia research.

More recently, Alzheimer's Disease International released its “World Alzheimer Report 2018”, and once again it proclaims that 1% of the societal cost of dementia should be devoted to funding research. Ideally, this additional funding should go to our partner, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, to be targeted for the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging, focused around the topics of quality of life, secondary prevention and primary prevention.

That research must take sex and gender—that is, biological and social influences—into account. Why? Because dementia discriminates. In Canada, almost 70% of Alzheimer's sufferers are women. Women succumb faster and women also end up worse off than men. If that weren't bad enough, women are two and a half times more likely to be providing care for somebody else with a brain-aging disorder. But historically, research has focused on men. That's why organizations like Women's Brain Health Initiative matter. We not only actively advocate for scientists to take sex and gender into account. We help fund that research, such as creating and supporting the world's first-ever research chair in women's brain health in aging, awarded to Dr. Gillian Einstein at the University of Toronto, and funding the sex and gender cross-cutting team at the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging.

While more funding into research is vital to finding answers for our daughters and granddaughters, Women's Brain Health Initiative also educates the public, especially young women, on what they can do to avoid or delay the progression of mind-robbing diseases like Alzheimer's. Why? Because we now know that by the time symptoms of Alzheimer's occur, it is likely that the damage to the brain has happened 20 to 25 years prior.

In a recent report from the esteemed Lancet Commission out of the U.K., along with other corroborating studies, one-third of all cases of dementia can be avoided by modifying your lifestyle choices, choices that include social, mental and physical activity; adequate sleep; stress reduction; and healthy eating. The earlier you engage in healthy lifestyle choices that you can control, the stronger the protective effect will be.

Women's Brain Health Initiative has created an effective vehicle for disseminating these evidence-based findings through our “Mind over Matter" publications, the last five editions co-funded by Brain Canada. With additional support we can reach more and teach more. Why? Because Women's Brain Health Initiative is the only organization that is proactive to brain-aging diseases. It is determined to get in front of the financial tsunami facing Canadians, if left unchecked, by providing the public with the information they need to stave off life-changing, debilitating diseases that rob people of their memories, personalities and ultimately their loved ones.

Getting people to change behaviour is not an easy task—just look at the number of people who still smoke—but knowledge is a great enabler and people have more control than they realize. Increasing funding for Canadian research that must be sex- and gender-sensitive is necessary to find effective solutions for everyone. Until we get the answers we desperately seek, getting the evidence-based ways of safeguarding our own cognitive health into the hands of the public in ways that encourage positive behaviour modification is critical to preventing and delaying brain-aging diseases. If we don't, Alzheimer's will become the emotional, social and financial sinkhole of the 21st century.

We have a collective responsibility towards future generations for our ability to face and reverse the challenges posed by brain-aging disorders and to improve the lives of all Canadians: those at risk, those affected by or living with these diseases, and the youth it behooves us to protect. Women are half of our workforce and are our primary caregivers. Our good health drives our families, our community and our economy. We can help, and hope that you'll join us.

Thank you.

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