President Biden signs ‘End Parkinson’s Act’ into law

President Biden signs End Parkinson’s Act into law

A new bill signed into law by President Joe Biden offers a sense of relief to the nearly 1 million Americans living with Parkinson's disease.

More than 10 million people in the world are living with Parkinson’s Disease.

In the United States, there are nearly one million people diagnosed with Parkinson’s and nearly 90,000 people are diagnosed with it every year, which is why a new bill that President Joe Biden just signed into law is so important.

President Biden signed the national plan, titled the "End Parkinson’s Act," into law earlier this week.

"For me, this bill is about hope," said Virgil Sweeney, executive director for the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation.

The legislation is the first ever federal legislation dedicated to ending Parkinson’s Disease, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation.

"Parkinson’s Disease is the fastest growing neurological disease in the world right now," Sweeney said.

The legislation will increase federal research funding, develop more effective pathways for treatment and cures, and improve early diagnosis.

Sweeney tells FOX 13 it will also put together a task force to help people with Parkinson’s, along with caregivers and families.

"Sometimes those are the people that get forgotten and they bear a lot of the burden," he said.

The legislation won't take effect until next year, but it already marks a huge step forward as resources will become available sooner, and hopefully a difference will be made in the near future, not the distant future.

"A lot of people with Parkinson’s live in their own world and we want them to know that it’s okay to have Parkinson's and there’s a whole community available to them to help them with their journey," Sweeney said.

A laboratory employee works at a cell therapy biotech company working on treatment research for Parkinson's disease. (PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

The Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation already has many resources online to help those impacted by the disease.