Research cuts could mean ongoing cancer deaths

OpEd In New Jersey Star Ledger, State's Largest Paper

In a guest column for the New JerseyStar-Ledger, a former White House spokesman and Chief-of-Staff for the House Aging Committee and Health Subcommittee, Robert Weiner, aGeorge Washington University breast cancer laboratory director and professor, Dr. Patricia Berg, and policy analyst, James Lewis assert that "as the government keeps funding two wars and ongoing tax breaks, curing diseases like cancer is being threatened in the budget debates underway. In both the State of the Union and Budget Message, President Obama promised investment in biomedical research. However, House Appropriations ChairmanHarold Rogers (R-KY) just announced that his proposed House budget has a $1 Billion cut in NIH funding."

Weiner, Berg, and Lewis contend, "Research cuts could mean ongoing cancer deaths. The nation is almost schizophrenic between cuts and necessary programs. With the economy still in crisis, the private sector does not have the ability to make up the difference.

"One in two men and one in three women will develop cancer in their lifetime, according to the National Cancer Institute. In 2010, there were 1.5 million new cancercases and 570,000 deaths in the U.S. In just breast cancer alone, NCI estimated 209,060 new breast cancer patients and 40,230 deaths last year.
source at:http://www.news-medical.net