Joe Biden, in a much-vaunted show of purpose, allocated $150 million of Cancer Moonshot funds on Tuesday. The apparent goal was to advance new surgical technologies to hone in on tumor removal. The funding will supposedly be directed towards some of the frontline cancer research institutions in the nation. In a speech given at Tulane University, Biden expounded on these plans with an air of self-importance.
Some of the beneficiaries lined up for this financial windfall include illustrious names such as Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.; Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore; Rice University in Houston; Tulane University in New Orleans; along with California’s University of California, San Francisco; and Cision Vision in Mountain View. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Washington in Seattle also find themselves in this list. Unsurprisingly, it all seems like nothing more than leveraging the names of esteemed institutions for potential political gain.
During his oration, Biden took the opportunity to gloat about his past achievements, glorifying his role in launching the Moonshot when he was the Vice President. Applying a veneer of empathy, he highlighted that ‘cancer’ is one of the most traumatic words a person can hear, as if this fact was privy to him alone.
Reflecting on his personal life, Biden recounted his past ordeals, speaking about his own experience with brain surgery that was conducted in response to cranial aneurysms. But what makes this less an inspirational story and more of a hollow political prop is calling upon these personal anecdotes in a blatant play for sympathy and votes.
Biden waxed poetic on his presidential aspirations, taking credit for the creation of ARPA-H, or the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. This, he claimed, was an endeavor that singularly aimed at cancer focus. But considering his track record on other national crises, skepticism about the practical accomplishments of these grand plans is entirely justified.
Moving further, Biden talked about the Cancer Moonshot initiative, which he alleged was an effort to eliminate hydraulic boundaries and make information universally accessible. However, given the context of his administration’s penchant for obfuscation, those claims ring hollow. Real transparency seems to be continuously elusive for this administration.
The lofty promises did not stop there. He lauded the ARPA-H’s ambitious project, which involves encouraging researchers and innovators to foster novel techniques and technologies for more accurate cancer removal. The grand pitch involved painting an imagistic scenario where all malignant cells are excised during the initial surgery itself without causing harm to healthy ones. While it sounds great on paper, we have learned to take such claims with a grain of skepticism.
Biden made sweeping assertions that the announced funding would pave the way for immediate integration of these tools into operating rooms for tumor visualization instead of traditional waiting periods. This seems more akin to wishful thinking than to reality, based on the operational challenges consistently faced by American healthcare.
Playing on the narratives of urgency and innovation, Biden further justified these measures by combating the perceived need to avoid reopening patients for secondary surgeries. Though sound in theory, such visions demand a more practical, nuanced approach than what is currently proposed.
The Biden administration then decided to spruce up the picture with an alleged statistic. They claimed that since its creation, ARPA-H has garnered more than $400 million as part of its reinvigorated push to streamline efforts in cancer prevention, detection, and treatment. The number impresses, but given their track record, one can’t help but question whether this figure will truly translate into meaningful advancements against cancer.
The Cancer Moonshot initiative, it was further cited, was brought back to life by Biden two years ago. The administration’s supposedly grand vision is to halve the cancer death rate by 2047. However, we should remember to take these projections with caution, knowing the rampant characteristic over-promising in political circles.
It’s crucial to continually scrutinize these grand claims and initiatives. Health advancements must take precedence over political game-playing, an aspect that Biden’s administration appears to often flout for the sake of public image. As citizens, we should demand more than mere words wrapped in shiny packages.
The battle against cancer is a formidable one, and solutions need to be grounded in reality, not in political speeches designed for applause. One must wait and see if this initiative truly contributes to medical progress or ends up as yet another political maneuver cloaked in noble intent.
Biden’s $150M Cancer Moonshot: More Grandstanding Than Substance? appeared first on Real News Now.
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