Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Although Childhood Cancers Have 80 Percent Cure Rate, Trump's $500M Welcomed With Open Arms By Scientists
Any other cancer where more than three-quarters of patients are cured might seem to be a low research priority 鈥 compared to, say, cancers with an approximately 0 percent cure rate, such as adult glioblastoma. But childhood cancers are, well, childhood cancers. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 overall cure rate of 80 percent means than 1 in 5 children will die of their disease,鈥 said Dr. James Downing, president and CEO of St. Jude Children鈥檚 Research Hospital聽in Memphis, Tenn. 鈥淪o there is still a lot of work to be done.鈥 (Begley, 2/8)
Kaiser Health News: Trump鈥檚 Pediatric Cancer Crusade A Drop In Bucket Compared With Past Presidential Pitches
President Donald Trump announced聽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.鈥淎ny increase in current funding levels is a good thing,鈥 said Keysha Brooks-Coley, the vice president of federal advocacy at the Cancer Action Network, the advocacy arm of the American Cancer Society. 鈥淲e have to start someplace, and the president鈥檚 announcement puts us there.鈥 (Knight, 2/8)
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)
Cuyahoga County is among three counties in Ohio targeted in President Donald Trump鈥檚 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)