put Cancer on Obama's radar screen

ya_moe

President-elect Obama's openness and connectedness through the change.gov web site is unprecedented.  This is a good time to help put Cancer research and funding on the new administration's radar screen.  Please share your vision and stories with the transition team.  http://change.gov/page/s/yourvision 

Bang-Zoom, let's send Cancer to the Moon.

http://bangzoom.info

NoH8

Stem cell research is my number one health concern for research dollars right now.

Jorf

Single payer universal health plan is my number one push to Mr. Obama even tho I know he's not for it. Keep the insurance companies involved and it will stay a money maker for their CEOs and less than ideal, more expensive, bigger hassle health care system for us.

ya_moe

Somehow I fail to see how "single payer universal health plan" can be more important than saving 1/2 million lives lost to Cancer this year!  Yes I know you are entitled to your opinion and I to mine, and UHP has its own merits and statistics.  I think we've been losing the war on Cancer and are too afraid to admit it!  Just look at the stats!  We've become complacent and content with 1.8% drops in death rate and 32-mile walks to raise a few million here or there.  It's all a distraction from the fact that nearly everyone on this site has been touched by this disease and a significant number of those here with Cancer today won't be around in 5 years!

Yes everyone's got their issues and the good President has a lot of issues to deal with.  But as President Kennedy so aptly said:

"This decision demands a major national commitment of scientific and technical manpower, materiel and facilities, and the possibility of their diversion from other important activities where they are already thinly spread. ... We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard..."

You can read more about Kennedy's impassioned plea for space research at bangzoom.info.  It is well document that his motive for space research was for propaganda value and going to the moon seemed the best way to achieve that.

Tackling Cancer as a national priority has much larger global/humanitarian impact, on par with Salk's polio vaccine.  (even Polio was not as deadly as Cancer!)

I believe stem cell research should also be funded as part of the bigger effort.

Jorf

Because there are lots of people WITH breast and other cancers NOW and can't afford the care they need or become bankrupt because of it. I believe that it is absolutely urgent to make excellent health and disease care to people who need it right now.

I am someone whose treatment was delayed because I didn't have health insurance. I lucked into the right person who got me hooked up with the BCCTP (breast and cervical cancer treatment program) -- a federal medicaid program and probably one of the only safety nets available in this country. But it's only available to a small percentage of women - with the right income, age and diagnosis.

While we're waiting for the cure (which, duh, I also support) let's not abandon the care.

ya_moe

Of course, immediate health care issues are important.  I certainly wasn't advocating abandoning current patients, but simply looking at where Cancer care/treatment stands in the bigger picture, and why there simply isn't a cure or even tangible survival rates yet!

Jorf

Well, I guess we agree to disagree regarding hierarchical priority setting. I think cancer is very important. I just happen to think that, from where I sit dealing with 10-12 people day after day whose shoulder sag whenever I write them a prescription, a more pressing problem for more people is access to good care.

NoH8

There are tangible survival rates for cancer and they are continuing to increase all the time. What many of us are trying to say is that cancer is just one of the many health care needs for the country's research and treatment dollars. Sometimes when dealing with a condition one can become myopic and forget to see the bigger picture. Anyone dying from cancer sucks, but no more than anyone dying from parkinsons, diabetes or another ailment that can be helped with either better access to treatment or research dollars.

ya_moe

 Diabetes #6 (75,119) and Parkinson's #14 (19,544) kill less than accidents!  #2 Cancer (559,312) kills more than the next 5 combined!  

It's not about what sucks more! It's about the numbers!  Indeed, let's look at the big picture!

Source:  http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/FASTATS/deaths.htm

ya_moe

On the subject of big picture, here's another, from ACS... it's the % drop in US death rate by cause for 1950 & 2005 -- a 55-year span. 

• Heart disease    64% drop
• Cerebrovascular Diseases (stroke)  74% drop
• Influenza & Pneumonia    57% drop
• Cancer                      5% drop

Yes Cancer treatment has come a long way, but has a looooong way to go still.

Source: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PRO/content/PRO_1_1_Cancer_Statistics_2008_Presentation.asp   (see slide 4)

NoH8

Have you posted any threads here that aren't about getting Obama to fund cancer research?

ya_moe

Actually no I haven't, and this is the only thread i've started on the subject.  If the subject matter bothers you, or you can't argue the point on its merits, you don't have to read.  I 'm here to give my opinion, supported by facts, just like anyone else.  And yes Cancer is very personal to me.

 
Your point being?

LAphoenix

Komen's Advocacy group is asking people to fill out a form about healthcare/bc priorities, to be sent to Obama and Daschle:

http://komenpolicy.org/campaign/priorities_vote/

Anyone can go to www.change.gov and add suggestions and comments as well.  The transitional team is actively seeking ideas.  I'm guessing the more specific we can be the better. 

ya_moe

Thank you for the link.  I just submitted my opinion.