War on Cancer

On this day in 1971, Richard Nixon declared war on cancer.

Laurie Singer picked up the blog (http://www.npr.org/blogs/mycancer/index.html) when her husband, Leroy Sievers, died after a long fight with cancer. She wrote about the war on cancer:
It's so easy to use fighting words when we talk about cancer. We call it a war against the beast. We fight the disease. We lose the battle.
But you know what? It is a war, one of the longest wars on record. It was declared back in 1971 on Dec. 23. That's the day President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act, "The War on Cancer," and asked for "An appropriation of an extra $100 million to launch an intensive campaign to find a cure for cancer, and I will ask later for whatever additional funds can effectively be used."
He went on to say: "The time has come in America when the same kind of concentrated effort that split the atom and took man to the moon should be turned toward conquering this dread disease. Let us make a total national commitment to achieve this goal."
I bring this up now because, almost 37 years later to the day that this war was declared, there are estimates that close to 12.5 million people will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and more than 7.5 million are expected to die from cancer.
Those numbers are huge. What kind of war are we fighting here? It feels like the beast is on free rein.
I usually hate estimates. Educated guesses. But this is a war that has hit home, and I'm fighting mad.
-- Laurie Singer

When President Nixon and Congress declared war on cancer, lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer death. It still is.

I know that what we need is awareness and education. I have written here before about fund raising for a specific cancer vs. raising money for ALL cancers. The discrepancy that exists...

Let's fight them all, with everything we've got. Throw all the muscle and firepower we are capable of as a nation. Let's fight for every person who has heard, "you have cancer." Let's fight for every family member and friend who has cried alone in the night, terrified for their loved one. Let's fight for every dollar to fund research so that not one person has to go into this battle again.

hugs,
chris