Although Childhood Cancers Have 80 Percent Cure Rate, Trump’s $500M Welcomed With Open Arms By Scientists
The cure rates are skewed because of the tremendous progress that's been made with childhood leukemia, but in other pediatric cancers, the cure rates haven’t changed in 20 years. And scientists have a short-list of ideas how how they want to spend the extra money that President Donald Trump pledged in his State of the Union address. Meanwhile, HIV advocates say that to make inroads against the disease, which Trump also made a priority in his address, officials need to increase outreach to black women.
Stat:
Scientists Have Ideas To Spend Trump's Money For Childhood Cancer
Any other cancer where more than three-quarters of patients are cured might seem to be a low research priority — compared to, say, cancers with an approximately 0 percent cure rate, such as adult glioblastoma. But childhood cancers are, well, childhood cancers. “Today’s overall cure rate of 80 percent means than 1 in 5 children will die of their disease,” said Dr. James Downing, president and CEO of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. “So there is still a lot of work to be done.” (Begley, 2/8)
Kaiser Health News:
Trump’s Pediatric Cancer Crusade A Drop In Bucket Compared With Past Presidential Pitches
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday during his State of the Union address that he was asking Congress to allocate $500 million over the next 10 years for pediatric cancer research. Organizations such as the American Cancer Society viewed the investment as a positive step.“Any increase in current funding levels is a good thing,” said Keysha Brooks-Coley, the vice president of federal advocacy at the Cancer Action Network, the advocacy arm of the American Cancer Society. “We have to start someplace, and the president’s announcement puts us there.” (Knight, 2/8)
NPR:
Women Should Consider Truvada For PrEP Too, HIV Prevention Advocates Say
In 2013, not quite a year after the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Truvada for HIV prevention, a coalition of 50 experts in HIV and women's health called on U.S. public health agencies to promote the pill and its approach, called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, explicitly to women. Not much happened. (Boerner, 2/8)
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Trump’s HIV Eradication Plan Includes Cuyahoga County
Cuyahoga County is among three counties in Ohio targeted in President Donald Trump’s initiative to eradicate HIV in the U.S. by 2030. The initiative would focus on clusters of infection in certain regions where rates of new infection have grown, make HIV testing a routine part of doctor visits, and create of a workforce to help with HIV elimination efforts in targeted areas, among other steps. (Washington, 2/7)
