Moonshot

“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