White House Provides Cancer Moonshot Update, National Screening Levels Increase

The Biden Administration provided an update May 9 regarding the reignition of the Cancer Moonshot initiative, including more than 35 private sector organizations initiating new actions and collaborations to expand access to cancer screenings and prevent more cancers before they start. The Cancer Moonshot was originally launched in 2016, to accelerate progress against cancer; it was reignited by President Biden in 2021 to end cancer as we know it.

In the last two decades, the cancer death rate has decreased by more than 25%. The Cancer Moonshot initiative goal is to decrease cancer deaths by more than 50% in the next 10 years, but to do that, there must be more progress made toward prevention, detection and treatment.

Danielle Carnival, PhD, deputy assistant to the president for the Cancer Moonshot, last week highlighted the importance of accessibility to screenings and removing any barriers during a webinar hosted by The Hill. Carnival reported that although 10 million screenings were missed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the country is back to pre-COVID screening levels.

Also covered in the webinar, was support for federal funding as vital for sustained cancer research and access, including funding the National Institutes of Health and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), along with the Cancer Moonshot funding. The American College of Radiology® (ACR®) continues to advocate for increased funding for NIH, which includes the National Cancer Institute and ARPA-H.

For more information, contact Katie Grady, ACR Government Affairs Director.