Comments on: Lance Armstrong come back to cycling to raise awareness of the global cancer burden http://crazytoon.com/2008/09/09/lance-armstrong-come-back-to-cycling-to-raise-awareness-of-the-global-cancer-burden/ Enterprise level solutions, LAMP, Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, Perl, Windows, Cache, Optimization Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:54:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Antony Curtis http://crazytoon.com/2008/09/09/lance-armstrong-come-back-to-cycling-to-raise-awareness-of-the-global-cancer-burden/comment-page-1/#comment-766 Antony Curtis Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:42:47 +0000 http://crazytoon.com/?p=123#comment-766 This is not my usual kind of response so please don't take any of what I write personally ;) Often many so-called selfless acts of generosity are motivated by personal interest. I don't mean to knock Lance Armstrong's achievements but consider the total amount of money spent in cancer research and divide it by the number of victims. Now let us consider some other ailments... Such as Endometriosis. It is estimated that there are 90 million diagnosed sufferers worldwide of this condition and many experts in the field believe that between 10%-20% of all women have it. About an order of magnitude greater than the number of cancer victims. Economic impact: It is reckoned that the annual cost in loss of productivity and healthcare is up to $22bn for the USA and EURO 30bn for the EU. How much money is spent in research on this condition? Figures I have seen quoted are about 3 cents for every dollar spent on cancer research. How about Lupus? Estimated that around 500000 to 1500000 suffer from that condition worldwide. It has a similarly dire research funding. How about Fibromyalgia? Estimated that up to 10 million Americans suffer from that condition alone. These are awful chronic conditions which rarely kill their victims directly in the way that cancer usually does but at this time, there is no cure. Unlike cancer, sufferers are often acutely aware of the condition on a daily basis due to regular or incessant pain. Cancer is already a big part of the social consciousness, even before Lance Armstrong championed the cause. Why, yes.. I do have an axe to grind. This is not my usual kind of response so please don’t take any of what I write personally ;)

Often many so-called selfless acts of generosity are motivated by personal interest.
I don’t mean to knock Lance Armstrong’s achievements but consider the total amount of money spent in cancer research and divide it by the number of victims.

Now let us consider some other ailments… Such as Endometriosis. It is estimated that there are 90 million diagnosed sufferers worldwide of this condition and many experts in the field believe that between 10%-20% of all women have it. About an order of magnitude greater than the number of cancer victims. Economic impact: It is reckoned that the annual cost in loss of productivity and healthcare is up to $22bn for the USA and EURO 30bn for the EU. How much money is spent in research on this condition? Figures I have seen quoted are about 3 cents for every dollar spent on cancer research.

How about Lupus? Estimated that around 500000 to 1500000 suffer from that condition worldwide. It has a similarly dire research funding.

How about Fibromyalgia? Estimated that up to 10 million Americans suffer from that condition alone.

These are awful chronic conditions which rarely kill their victims directly in the way that cancer usually does but at this time, there is no cure. Unlike cancer, sufferers are often acutely aware of the condition on a daily basis due to regular or incessant pain.

Cancer is already a big part of the social consciousness, even before Lance Armstrong championed the cause.

Why, yes.. I do have an axe to grind.

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