3 min read Culture

President Biden Announces New Steps in Cancer Moonshot Initiative on Anniversary of JFK's Famous Speech

The Biden administration's Cancer Moonshot initiative expands on the 60th anniversary of President Kennedy's historic call to put a man on the moon.
President Biden Announces New Steps in Cancer Moonshot Initiative on Anniversary of JFK's Famous Speech

President Joe Biden announced new steps to expand on his administration’s "Cancer Moonshot" initiative to prevent deaths from cancer by trying to speed the discovery of new treatments and improve prevention, detection and treatment to those suffering from the disease, reports NBC News.  

"Cancer doesn’t discriminate between red or blue, it doesn’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat," Biden said in a speech Monday afternoon at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. "Beating cancer is something we can do together and that’s why I’m here today."

Biden touts next steps on 'Cancer Moonshot' in speech at JFK library (NBC News)

Excerpt from NBC News: Biden likened the effort to Kennedy’s goal of putting a man on the moon in his remarks, which come on the 60th anniversary of Kennedy’s moonshot speech. The goal of the initiative is to reduce the death rate from cancer by 50% over the next 25 years, Biden said. The effort is a personal one to Biden, who lost his son Beau Biden to brain cancer in 2015. During his remarks, Biden named longtime science adviser Renee Wegrzyn as the inaugural director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, which he created in March. The agency’s mission is to improve the federal government’s ability to foster health and biomedical research.
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"President Kennedy set a goal to win the space race against Russia and advance science and technology for all humanity," Biden said, according to ABC News. "And when he said that goal, he established a national purpose that could rally the American people and the common cause, and he succeeded. Now in our time, on the 60th anniversary of his clarion call, we face another inflection point."

Biden pushes efforts to end cancer on 60th anniversary of JFK's 'moonshot' speech (ABC News)

Excerpt from ABC News: On the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's famous moonshot speech, President Joe Biden on Monday outlined a new "American Moonshot" aimed at eradicating cancer "as we know it." After being introduced by Kennedy's daughter, U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy, Biden pointed to the parallels between his efforts and those of JFK, who, at the time, declared the America's objective to put a man on the moon -- noting that both plans were unprecedented for their times. "I believe ... the same national purpose will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills to end cancer as we know it. And even cure cancers once and for all," he said.
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According to the National Cancer Institute, since the initial launch of the Cancer Moonshot in 2016, the cancer community has made measurable progress toward three ambitious goals: to accelerate scientific discovery in cancer, foster greater collaboration, and improve the sharing of cancer data.

Early in 2022, President Biden announced a reignition of the Cancer Moonshot, highlighting new goals: to reduce the cancer death rate by half within 25 years and improve the lives of people with cancer and cancer survivors.

By focusing on areas of cancer research that are most likely to benefit the American people as a result of new investment, the Cancer Moonshot has brought together a large community of patients, advocates, researchers and clinicians who are dedicated to advancing research to end cancer as we know it.

Read more about the ambitious program here:

Cancer Moonshot (National Cancer Institute)

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