The National Cancer Moonshot, an initiative led by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to improve cancer care and research, has been bungled since the beginning, according to independent journalist Eric Rosenthal, who covers cancer for MedPage Today.
Writing for The Hill, Mr. Rosenthal offers a critical view of the initiative following his encounter with it at last week's American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in New Orleans. There, Vice President Biden chose to speak at the end of the meeting after roughly 15,000 of the 19,500 attendees had left, rather than at the opening plenary session, according to Mr. Rosenthal. At the meeting Mr. Rosenthal also witnessed Douglas Lowy, MD, acting director of the National Cancer Institute and member of the moonshot's task force, raise his hand when asked if the initiative was misnamed.
Dr. Lowy is certainly not alone in this opinion; Mr. Rosenthal himself feels the moonshot name is a dated, lazy analogy for the task at hand, which is "not necessarily to 'cure' cancer, but to understand it better and make it a chronic, more manageable condition," Mr. Rosenthal wrote.
Much of Mr. Rosenthal's criticism centers on how the initiative was packaged and presented, issues which his writings suggest will continue to encumber the moonshot's progress. He takes issue with the statement, "Let's make America the country that cures cancer once and for all," for its nationalistic tone that clashes with the reality that cancer is global challenge. Mr. Rosenthal also notes the lack of bipartisan support for the initiative.
If the National Cancer Moonshot was framed as the U.S. taking the lead to accelerate cancer research through a realistic plan, it would be more effective, according to Mr. Rosenthal.
"Then the moonshot initiative — or whatever name might be more applicable — could have had the credibility, structure, support and accountability to make more meaningful strides to deal with the disease that has had many casualties, but 15 million Americans have survived, as well," Mr. Rosenthal wrote.
Read the full opinion here.
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