Obama vows in State of Union address that effort will be made to cure cancer once and for all

Last night in his final State of the Union address, President Obama pledged a "new national effort" to find a cure for cancer, putting Vice President Joe Biden in charge of this "new moonshot."

"In his own remarks on Tuesday night, Biden said his priority will be increasing public and private dollars to fight cancer while also breaking down the many 'silos' that prevent cancer-fighters from sharing their data and research … [and] … The federal government will do everything it possibly can through funding, targeted incentives, and increased private-sector coordination, to support research and enable progress”--From link below.

"He compared the commitment to fighting cancer to President Kennedy's promise to send Americans to the moon 55 years ago: 'This is our moonshot.' "--From link below.

For those of us old enough to remember, this sounds very similar to President Nixon's declaration of "war on cancer" back in 1971.

Of course it's nice to have this as a governmental priority, but certainly many, many questions arise regarding, planning, funding, execution, etc. for the future. But the article below also mentions "… an agreement by Republicans and Democrats in Congress to increase National Institutes of Health (NIH) spending for the first time in more than a decade." So maybe good will indeed come from this statement of intentions.

Video of the president's announcement along with accompanying article:

thehill.com/policy/healthcare/265671-obama-launches-effort-to-cure-cancer-once-and-for-all

Clearly there will be various reactions to this. Here's an article in which it is claimed, supposedly by experts, that the "time is right" for this kind of effort:

www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/time-right-obama-s-ambitious-cancer-moonshot-experts-say-n495781

Jack H –

For my thread title (above) I just copied the article title in my first link above word-for-word, that's where the thread title came from. That's what the article calls itself.

But technically you are correct, in that "cancer isn't being cured," but an "effort to cure it is being undertaken."

So I don't mind editing the title to read as I now have it (I did change it a little bit) if it does make things a little clearer.

(However, I have noticed a curiosity: the revised thread title now appears in the index screen, while the original thread title still appears above. Maybe someone more knowledgable in post updating mechanics can explain that one to me).

You said...
However, I have noticed a curiosity: the revised thread title now appears in the index screen, while the original thread title still appears above. Maybe someone more knowledgable in post updating mechanics can explain that one to me

Official explanation: Yeah, that happens sometimes.

sheesh

In the budget that was passed before the end of the year, there was a 5.3% increase in funding for the NCI, which was the biggest increase since 2003.

National Cancer Act of 1971

In 1970, the American people made clear their desire for a cure for the second-leading cause of death in the United States. President Nixon responded during his January 1971 State of the Union address: "I will also ask for an appropriation of an extra $100 million to launch an intensive campaign to find a cure for cancer, and I will ask later for whatever additional funds can effectively be used. The time has come in America when the same kind of concentrated effort that split the atom and took man to the moon should be turned toward conquering this dread disease. Let us make a total national commitment to achieve this goal."

Ah, well, curing cancer will happen as soon as we repeal death. Sorry guys, I accept the fact that cancer is, very much a first world problem. Not that I'm against research. I'm just not sure that "curing cancer" is possible..if only because cancer is not a single disease.

I wish this forum had the ability to hide a thread.

No good can come from this one.

For my comments on this thread, please refer to Redwings post. I'm not going near this in an effort to remain compliant. lol

These initiatives are absolutely a good thing. It was something to hear and be encouraged by in 1971, and also last night.

Both of those Presidents did the right thing, and anyone who is so consumed by their hatred (Nixon had them also) is too obsessed to realize common sense when they hear it.

Let's all just hope that some incremental gains are made in this current initiative.

Michael_T said...
I was actually looking forward to this conversation. Not the political part, of course, which has no right to be here. But I did think it was possible for us to talk about research initiatives and ways to attack a disease (okay, many diseases) that have all affected us. Is that really not possible? Sigh...

It's only possible apart from the political theater of a presidential speech.

Start a new thread. This one is useless from its foundation.

Michael_T said...
I was actually looking forward to this conversation. ... Is that really not possible? Sigh...

Of course it is!


I think it was brave of Joe Biden to step forward—following the death (brain cancer) of his son last year—to lead this renewed effort. That makes it personal; and inspirational.

The injection of federal money (previously mentioned here) will help, which can raise the profile of many "shovel-ready" projects.

"Curing cancer" is not going to happen in the remaining days of the existing administration, but it is an effort for the benefit of nearly all Americans that is being launched and can be carried forward. My crystal ball says that this is an assignment that Joe Biden takes with him and continues to lead and work on as a private citizen next year and beyond.

Wow! It looks like I really touched a nerve here with this particular thread.

Everything from the "thread title was incorrect," to

:… I was actually looking forward to this conversation"

to

"… Start a new thread. This one is useless from its foundation."

All I can say is, please don't shoot the messenger, folks. Me? I was just submitting a topic for conversation, and if it turned out to be a hornet's nest for some, well, then I guess we found that out pretty quickly, didn't we?

No offense was intended on my part. But if any good has come from all this, it would be the realization that some passions do indeed run very deeply in certain people concerning certain issues, and it was a wise man who laid down the forum rules regarding the discussion (or non-discussion) of certain topics.

But I guess it's only a minefield if we make it that.

And I don't suppose anybody really likes a forum dust-up now and then, but it seems it's just the nature of the beast.