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Politics|Biden Will Take Cancer ‘Moonshot’ Global at Summit in Delaware
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/20/us/politics/biden-cancer-moonshot-summit.html
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The president will join the leaders of Australia, India and Japan to announce a new initiative for reducing cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific, a region with especially high rates of the disease.
Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports on the intersection of health policy and politics.
Sept. 20, 2024, 5:05 a.m. ET
President Biden, who is winding down his term and his life on the world stage, is taking one of his most prized personal initiatives — the cancer “moonshot” program — global.
When Mr. Biden and the leaders of Australia, India and Japan meet in Wilmington, Del., on Saturday for the president’s final so-called Quad Summit, they will unveil a new collaboration aimed at reducing cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific, White House officials said. Some countries in the region, particularly poor and remote island nations, have especially high rates of the disease.
The Quad Cancer Moonshot Initiative will focus on expanding cervical cancer screening; increasing vaccinations against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, a common sexually transmitted infection that is the primary cause of cervical cancer; and treating patients. In June, Jill Biden, the first lady, announced a five-year, $1.58 billion commitment to Gavi, an international organization that works to expand access to vaccines and that will support the effort, officials said.
Cervical cancer, which is preventable and curable if it is detected and treated early, is the fourth most common cause of cancer among women worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. In 2020, the W.H.O. adopted a global strategy for the elimination of the disease. Its goals include having 90 percent of girls vaccinated against HPV by age 15.
Australia has set a goal of eliminating cervical cancer by 2035, which could make it the first country to eliminate the disease. Australia is also taking the lead in reducing cervical cancer in the region. The Quad cancer initiative, which is being spearheaded by Mr. Biden’s ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, will build on that work.
The White House officials, speaking anonymously to preview the announcement, said U.S. Navy hospital ships, which already work in the region, would begin conducting cervical cancer screenings and delivering vaccines to remote island nations. India, one of the world’s biggest vaccine manufacturers, will make and distribute vaccines. Japan will provide technological infrastructure.
