Honoring and Commending Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and the Alzheimer's Association for their work to educate and promote awareness in the African American community regarding the impact of Alzheimer's Disease.

WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated (“Delta Sigma Theta”) and the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association (“Alzheimer’s Association”) have partnered to raise awareness regarding the incidence and prevalence of the Alzheimer’s Disease and its impact on the African American community; and

WHEREAS, Delta Sigma Theta and the Alzheimer’s Association will host their second annual conference entitled “A Distant Memory: Alzheimer’s Disease and Its Impact on the Family” on Saturday, March 26, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at Thomas Jefferson University’s Alumni Hall (11th and Locust Streets); and

WHEREAS, The conference is free and open to the public and its objectives are to improve understanding and increase knowledge concerning Alzheimer’ s Disease, its symptoms, and risk factors in the African American community, to increase the probability of early detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease among African Americans, to increase access to resources and care giving techniques available in the Philadelphia community, and to enhance access to culturally competent community services tailored to address the needs of African Americans; and

WHEREAS, The conference and similar events provide an opportunity for education and early detection of Alzheimer’s Disease, which is a significant strategy in decreasing the devastating impact of the disease on the African American community; and

WHEREAS, African Americans tend to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s much later in the disease progression and, consequently, many African Americans are not able to take advantage of the treatments that can improve the quality of life and even delay the onset of more severe symptoms; and

WHEREAS, According to the 2000 Census, African Americans constitute 43% of the City’s population, yet, African Americans represent as much as 45%

of the Alzheimer’ s cases in Philadelphia; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby honor and commend Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and the Alzheimer’ s Association for their work to educate and promote awareness in the African American community regarding the impact of Alzheimer’s Disease.

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