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President Biden meets with ‘Cancer Cabinet,’ hopes ending cancer can be a ‘national purpose’ for US

President Joe Biden speaks Sept. 5, 2023, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is facing some deep skepticism from among the wealthy nations of the Group of 20 as almost two years of sanctions against Russia have deepened divisions within the group. As world leaders and finance ministers meet this week in India, fractures that have opened between some G20 nations may be more palpable. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (Jacquelyn Martin, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

President Joe Biden last year urged Americans to come together for a new “national purpose” — his administration’s effort to end cancer “as we know it.”

Biden was set to meet with his “Cancer Cabinet” on Wednesday afternoon to discuss plans.

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Biden hopes to move the U.S. closer to the goal he set in February of cutting U.S. cancer fatalities by 50% over the next 25 years and dramatically improving the lives of caregivers and those suffering from cancer. Experts say the objective is attainable — with adequate investments.

The president called his goal of developing treatments and therapeutics for cancers “bold, ambitious, and I might add, completely doable.”

The meeting, convened by both the president and first lady Dr. Jill Biden, will allow representatives from across federal agencies to update the nation on new steps by the administration, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to end cancer. The effort is part of the president’s larger Unity Agenda, which he often points to as policy priorities all Americans should be able to support despite the divisive political moment, CNN reported.

Per a fact sheet shared with CNN ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health will announce $240 million in investments to fund research and innovators this year for cancer-related projects, as well as a new partnership with the NIH, the National Cancer Institute to launch a so-called Biomedical Data Fabric Toolbox, which the administration says will be “the first step toward transforming data accessibility across all medical domains.”

In addition, according to CNN, new programs from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Environmental Protect Agency will seek to expand cancer care to underserved communities, reduce the impact of smoking in underserved, minority, tribal, and veterans’ communities, and invest in community centers offering cancer screenings.