The National Cancer Act of 1971
I. The Problem
In the 1970’s cancer had become the second leading cause of death in American’s behind heart disease. There had been much research in cancer and it had been somewhat proven that some things can prevent cancer. If the number two leading cause of death can be prevented, then maybe the United States government can step in and help fund some of the research. This idea was brought about in the 70’s by many people in the health community, but was not favored by many. In the early 1960’s the majority of American’s were heavy smokers. This was because cigarettes can be addicting and no one knew the true dangers of smoking at this time. On January 11, 1964, the surgeon general of the United States, Luther …show more content…
When President Nixon passed The National Cancer Act, he said they want to beat cancer within fifteen years. Many Americans took this as a promise that cancer would be cured. Today, the rates of people who have been diagnosed with cancer have decreased. The overall death rate has decreased by 5% since the 1950’s. Although the death rate has decreased cancer still remains the second leading cause of death in America. To some people this is a success, but it is not what was promised when the law was originally passed. The original promise was that in about 15 years cancer would be cured. The policy has changed the way cancer is treated and how research is done. After the policy was passed doctors were able to test many assumptions out. Researchers at the NHI found out that cancer is almost always preventable. They also found out that some viruses can cause cancers. That being said, some viruses can have vaccines. Cervical cancer is most commonly caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Because of The National Cancer Act, a vaccine has been made and the numbers of women diagnosed with cervical cancer have been dropping. Women these days get pap smears annually to check for cervical cancer. If they do find out they have it but they get checked out regularly then they usually catch it in its early stages. This is just like Mammograms for breast cancer and colonoscopies for colon cancer. Adults get them regularly to check for any signs of cancer. These monitoring exams were not used until after the researchers in the NHI had the money from The National Cancer Act to be able to discover them. Researchers and doctors have also discovered that some cancers have a higher chance of affecting people based on their genetics. This is also a huge deal because people are able to be tested to see if some of their genes are likely to cause cancer. This way they can be prepared to catch it
I. The Problem
In the 1970’s cancer had become the second leading cause of death in American’s behind heart disease. There had been much research in cancer and it had been somewhat proven that some things can prevent cancer. If the number two leading cause of death can be prevented, then maybe the United States government can step in and help fund some of the research. This idea was brought about in the 70’s by many people in the health community, but was not favored by many. In the early 1960’s the majority of American’s were heavy smokers. This was because cigarettes can be addicting and no one knew the true dangers of smoking at this time. On January 11, 1964, the surgeon general of the United States, Luther …show more content…
When President Nixon passed The National Cancer Act, he said they want to beat cancer within fifteen years. Many Americans took this as a promise that cancer would be cured. Today, the rates of people who have been diagnosed with cancer have decreased. The overall death rate has decreased by 5% since the 1950’s. Although the death rate has decreased cancer still remains the second leading cause of death in America. To some people this is a success, but it is not what was promised when the law was originally passed. The original promise was that in about 15 years cancer would be cured. The policy has changed the way cancer is treated and how research is done. After the policy was passed doctors were able to test many assumptions out. Researchers at the NHI found out that cancer is almost always preventable. They also found out that some viruses can cause cancers. That being said, some viruses can have vaccines. Cervical cancer is most commonly caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Because of The National Cancer Act, a vaccine has been made and the numbers of women diagnosed with cervical cancer have been dropping. Women these days get pap smears annually to check for cervical cancer. If they do find out they have it but they get checked out regularly then they usually catch it in its early stages. This is just like Mammograms for breast cancer and colonoscopies for colon cancer. Adults get them regularly to check for any signs of cancer. These monitoring exams were not used until after the researchers in the NHI had the money from The National Cancer Act to be able to discover them. Researchers and doctors have also discovered that some cancers have a higher chance of affecting people based on their genetics. This is also a huge deal because people are able to be tested to see if some of their genes are likely to cause cancer. This way they can be prepared to catch it