“Moon shot for cancer
cure “is the catch word today on the eve of the World Cancer day
What is meant by moonshot?
During the sixties
there was a race for the first man to reach the moon, a race between the cold
war rivals USA and USSR, the spurt in US Government spending and focused efforts
by its rocket scientists made it the winner and that jump was then called as a moonshot.
So any focused concentrated
attempts to a target by all agencies including the government to achieve that
target is termed Moonshot.
Oncology did have a
previous moon shot and it did bring about dramatic developments though the cure
which was aimed for was never reached.
Today both the President
and the Vice President of USA have initiated a moon shot again which will definitely
make a difference .
Cancer is one
stigmatic diagnosis that has an imagery which is very negative.
For years people have
always associated cancer with dread and as a dead end to life
To a certain extent
with all the advances even today it is true.
But to a large extent
their comprehensibility of the enigma is totally wrong
Cancer is not one disease.
If someone says we
conquer cancer it is unlike saying one conquers small pox or TB
Calling cancer as a
single disease is akin to calling the Himalayas as a hill!
Every cancer is
different and depending on its organ of origin, the person it afflicts and its aggressiveness
Over the years
research has brought about a paradigm shift in its management, survival and
cure too .They all have increased to a
remarkable amount but there is still miles to go in order to relieve every
unfortunate who has been diagnosed with one and definitely a surge in its
research and funding will help accelerate this process .
In that sense the
moon shot is welcome
