State Senate panel passes mental health bills

ATLANTA - Twin bills passed unanimously through a state Senate panel on Thursday, according to the website Georgia Health News, moving the state's aging services into a new agency and providing for tracking the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and dementia in Georgia.

According to the website, State Senator Renee Untermann of Buford said the two bills arose from proposals made by a task force on mental health concerns among the aging in Georgia.

Untermann chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

Untermann told Georgia Health News that her advocacy on the issue arises from personal experience with a friend's father who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Nationallly, according to the Alzheimer's Association, deaths from the disease jumped 68 percent between 2000 and 2010.

At present, 120,000 Georgians are estimated to suffer from the disease. That number is expected to grow to 160,000 by 2025.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2014/1/270335