Arizona has the highest growth rate of Alzheimer’s disease in the country. Now, for the first time, the state’s $18 billion budget includes funding to tackle this devastating illness. 

More than 150,000 Arizonans are living with Alzheimer’s, and that figure is expected to hit 200,000 by 2025.

Tory Roberg, director of Government Affairs for the Alzheimer’s Association, Desert Southwest Chapter in Phoenix, called the budget news “unprecedented.”

"Currently we don’t have an Alzheimer’s program or a dementia program at the department of health services. This budget provides the necessary funding for three years for the department of health services to focus on Alzheimer’s and to focus on planning for the future," Roberg said. 

The budget includes roughly $5.8 million for an Alzheimer’s public awareness program, new Dementia-specific positions at the Arizona Department of Health Services and ongoing funding for research.