Joe Biden Relaunches Cancer Moonshot in Attempt To Cut Related Deaths by 50% in the Next 25 Years

The "cancer moonshot," a program that has set a lofty aim of finding a cure for cancer, has been revived by President Joe Biden.

When Biden was Vice President under President Barack Obama in 2016, he initially began on the cancer moonshot. "Let's make America the country that cures cancer once and for all," Obama said at the time.

Biden announces the relaunch of Cancer Moonshot to find a cure

With the program's restart in 2022, the objective is to lower cancer death rates by at least 50% over the following 25 years and to enhance the quality of life for people who have been diagnosed with cancer. Cancer is America's second-largest cause of death, according to the President.

Biden indicated that he will assemble a new cancer cabinet in the coming weeks. The President also asks Congress to support the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) with a budget of $6.5 billion for three years in his 2022 budget. He indicated that he will assemble a new cancer cabinet in the coming weeks. The President also asks Congress to support the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) with a budget of $6.5 billion for three years in his 2022 budget.

The cancer moonshot coordinator will be Dr. Danielle Carnival. As she explains it, "It's about bringing new therapies and discoveries to the public through research, but it's also about ensuring that the tools we have are accessible to all communities across the country."

During the coronavirus pandemic, more than 9 million cancer tests were missed, according to a study published in JAMA Oncology, a point emphasized by the president. Everyone should make those cancer screening appointments, according to Biden's call to action.

Together with First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and First Gentleman Doug Emhoff, the President made the announcement, according to ABC21. Biden pleaded with Congress to support his proposed Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health within the National Institutes of Health in this moonshot version, which includes a White House Cancer Cabinet.

Vice President Kamala Harris was introduced by First Lady Jill Biden at the East Room reception on Wednesday. The president's and her "delight" were stolen by illness after their eldest son Beau, who was 46 years old at the time, died in 2015 of glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer. On Wednesday, Beau's oncologist, as well as Beau's doctor, were there.

In 2009, Harris' mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, died of colon cancer at the age of 70. During the final year of former President Barack Obama's presidency, Biden launched his first moonshot. Its goal was to reduce the time it took to diagnose, treat, and prevent cancer by half a decade, as per Washington Examiner.

Cancer-related death rates in the US

The name of the program is an intentional allusion to what is considered a national victory since it refers to the US landing on the moon in 1969. The first funding has left over $400 million to be spent in the following two years. According to a senior source, the president is not anticipated to reveal more funding until later this year, but he will set "extremely ambitious goals" for the country.

On the heels of a bipartisan agreement, though, the White House expects more cash to be available. In addition, the White House wants to focus on racial disparities in cancer treatment access. According to the American Cancer Society, about 2 million people will be diagnosed with cancer this year, with over 600,000 of them dying as a result of the disease. The goal of the White House is to reduce the number of fatalities by about 300,000 each year.

When age is taken into account, cancer-related mortality has already decreased by around a fourth. The current death rate is 146 per 100,000 persons, down from nearly 200 in 2000. Improvements in treatments, diagnostics, medicines, and immunizations are substantially to blame for this decrease. A large reduction in the number of adult smokers who have been smoking for a long time has also been a factor, DW via MSN reported.