WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden is focusing on the political goals closest to his heart now that he is is no longer seeking a second term and will visit New Orleans on Tuesday to promote his government’s initiative “moonshot” initiative that aims to drastically reduce cancer deaths.
The President and First Lady Jill Biden will tour medical facilities and then deliver remarks at Tulane University about how the Healthcare Advanced Research Projects Agency “is accelerating progress in how we prevent, treat and detect cancer ,” says the White House. This agency is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Before leaving office in January, Biden hopes to bring the US closer to the goal he set out in 2022 that he would reduce US cancer deaths by 50% over the next 25 years and improve the lives of caregivers and those suffering from cancer.
Experts say the goal is achievable – with adequate investments.
“We are curing people of diseases that we previously thought were absolutely intractable and unsurvivable,” said Karen Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death for people in the US, after heart disease. This year alone, the American Cancer Society estimates that 2 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and 611,720 people will die from cancerous diseases.
Still, “if all innovation ended today and we were able to give people access to the innovations we know about right now, we think we could reduce cancer mortality by another 20 to 30 percent,” Knudsen said.
The issue is personal enough for Biden that, in his recent Oval Office Address Regarding abandoning the 2024 campaign, the president promised to continue fighting for “my moon cancer so we can end cancer as we know it.”
“Because we can do it,” Biden said then.
He said in that speech that the initiative would be a priority in his final months in office, in addition to working to strengthen the economy and defend abortion rights, protect children from gun violence and make changes to the Supreme Court, which he called “extreme” in its current composition during a recent event.
Both the president and first lady Jill Biden has had lesions removed from her skin in the past that were determined to be basal cell carcinoma, a common and easily treatable form of cancer. In 2015 his eldest son Beau died of aggressive brain cancer at 46 years old.
The president’s public schedule has been much calmer since he left the race and supported the vice president Kamala Harrishighlighting Tuesday’s trip.
Advocates praised Biden for keeping the spotlight on cancer, bringing together stakeholders and gathering commitments from private companies, nonprofits and patient groups.
They say the extra attention the Biden administration has paid to the issue has put the country on track to reduce cancer death rates by at least half, preventing more than 4 million deaths from the disease, by 2047. It has done so by reinforcing the access to cancer treatments and reminding people of the importance of recommended screening, which suffered a setback during the coronavirus pandemic.
“President Biden’s passion and commitment to this effort have made monumental differences for the entire cancer community, including those who suffer from cancer,” said Jon Retzlaff, policy director at the American Association for Cancer Research.
Looking to the future, Retzlaff said, “The key thing is that we see robust, sustained, predictable annual financial support for the National Institutes of Health. And if we realize that through the NIH and the National Cancer Institute, the programs that have been created through of the lunar advance of cancer will be able to continue.”
Biden’s initiatives include changes that make cancer screening and treatment more accessible to more people, said Knudsen of the American Cancer Society.
For example, Medicare has started paying for follow-up colonoscopies if a stool test suggests cancer, she said, and Medicare will now pay for navigation services to guide patients through the maze of cancer treatment.
“You already paid for cancer research. You have already paid for the innovation. Now let’s bring this to the people,” said Knudsen.
She also said she would like to see the next government ban menthol-flavored cigarettes, which she said could save 654,000 lives over the next 40 years.
Scientists now understand that cancer is not a single disease, but hundreds of diseases that respond differently to different treatments. Some cancers have biomarkers that can be targeted by existing drugs that will slow tumor growth. Many more targets await discovery.
“We hope that the next administration, whoever it is, will continue to maintain focus and emphasis on our national commitment to ending cancer as we know it,” said Dr. Crystal Denlinger, CEO of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a group of elite cancer centers.
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Johnson reported from Washington state.
