【eroticism in poetry】

Vice President Joe Biden is eroticism in poetrymore optimistic today than he has ever been in his entire career -- and he's certain we're on the cusp of of unprecedented scientific and technological breakthroughs that can change the fight against cancer.

"We have an obligation to help, not later, not tomorrow -- now," Biden said Monday at the 2016 Social Good Summit in New York.

"What I'd like to talk to you about is my hope that by the year 2030, we’ll live in a world where cancer is ended as we know it," he later added.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

SEE ALSO: Joe Biden opens up about his son's death in emotional interview with Colbert

To reach that goal, Biden announced three major steps through the National Cancer Moonshot initiative, an effort he has led since January, which aims to "accelerate progress toward prevention, treatment and a cure."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

The first step is the announcement of 10 new commitments with nine nations to support better international cancer research and care. The U.S. will work with institutions in Canada, China, Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea in the field of proteogenomics, and with Serbia, Sweden and Japan to open a discussion about better prevention, screenings, treatment and research collaborations. The U.S. Department of Energy will also work with Norway to share 1.7 million cervical screening results over the course of 25 years to seek out patterns in diagnoses and treatments.

Biden also talked about the creation of regional hubs -- collaborative centers that can help decrease disparities in cancer research around the world. These hubs will be funded by the National Cancer Institute, working with Australia, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. This initiative will focus on areas of the world where specific types of cancers are leading killers.

Lastly, Biden said that Secretary of State John Kerry will strengthen U.S. bilateral science and technology engagements to support Cancer Moonshot. Biden hopes this will inspire better mobile diagnostics and screenings as well as wearable tech, so people can track their health more efficiently.

"We use these kinds of agreements with 70 nations to harness the best science to address the world's toughest problems -- climate change, food security," he said. "We should include in that cancer research. Today the fight against cancer is going to be part of those agreements."

Biden's speech at the Social Good Summit comes three days after he announced new steps to improve the clinical trial program in the United States. That included the launch of Trials.Cancer.gov, a searchable database to help cancer patients find the right clinical trials. It was designed by the Presidential Innovation Fellows in partnership with the National Cancer Institute. Biden said it would "be as easy to use as a travel site."

He also said that the National Institutes of Health will make its database of clinical trials easier to use and more searchable, and the Food and Drug Administration will design "smarter, more efficient trials" for patients. The Department of Health and Human Services also created a policy that makes sure the general public receives important information about clinical trials, "and that there are real penalties for failing to report and share information."

"We have to change this culture in order to win this fight."

Biden added in his speech on Monday that hospitals and researchers who don't publish results of cancer studies will face a $10,000 per day fine. This will be put in place within the next six months.

"For the last nine months, I've traveled extensively all over the world," Biden said. "One thing has come through clearly -- the medical profession is not real good at sharing."

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

He said there is a culture of not sharing information, and many researchers are often reluctant to own up to failure -- or, when there's success, there's proprietary interest in owning a discovery.

"We have to change this culture in order to win this fight," Biden said.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

President Obama announced the National Cancer Moonshot initiative in his final State of the Union Address in January, calling on Biden to lead the effort. Weeks later, Obama signed a presidential memorandum, establishing the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force, which includes heads of executive branch departments and national agencies.

In February, the White House announced it would be investing $1 billion to "jumpstart" the initiative, allowing researchers to accelerate the development of new cancer detection and treatments.

The issue is personal to Biden, whose son Beau died of brain cancer in May 2015 at age 46.

"There's nothing more helpless as a parent than looking at your child, no matter what their age, knowing there's not much you can do to help," Biden said at the Social Good Summit. "So, when our Beau was diagnosed with Stage IV glioblastoma ... he knew what he was facing. He knew it was basically a death sentence. But we tried to find out everything we could -- not just about his disease, about what was happening."

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Biden said that when we talk about medical cures, we can't forget they're for real people -- to save real lives.

"At the heart of what we do, there is always a child, a husband, a wife, a loved one who's in pain somewhere, trying like hell to summon the courage to sustain the hope that help will be there for them and everyone else who stands by them," he said.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The Cancer Moonshot initiative has raised questions about what it means to "cure" cancer. The focus on "prevention, treatment and a cure," some experts say, is simplistic and perhaps overly optimistic. There are many types of cancer, for example, and they often respond to different treatments.

"Imagine, just imagine, what the word could look like in 2030 if we're smart and we work like hell."

But Biden said Monday that making unprecedented progress in cancer prevention and treatment is not a pipe dream -- the U.S. has the capacity. He explained that 50 years ago, when Richard Nixon declared a war on cancer, "he had no army, he had no weapons, there was no clear strategy for how to win that war. It was an aspiration."

Throughout Beau's experience with cancer, however, Biden realized the world was at what he called an "inflection point" -- that after decades of research and investments, we now have that army, the weapons and the technology needed.

"Imagine, just imagine, what the word could look like in 2030 if we're smart and we work like hell," he said.

Biden's role as Vice President ends with the end of President Obama's term in January 2017. Biden told STAT last week that he then plans to dedicate his career to cancer research, and that he'll do so for "as long as I'm alive."

About Social Good Summit

The Social Good Summit is a two-day conference examining the impact of technology and new media on social good initiatives around the world. Held during U.N. Week on Sept. 18 and 19, the Social Good Summit unites a dynamic community of global leaders and grassroots activists to discuss solutions for the greatest challenges of our time. You can watch the event live at socialgoodsummit.com.

This year's summit is brought to you by Mashable, the United Nations Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme and the 92nd Street Y. For complete event details, visit https://mashable.com/sgs.

Topics Health Social Good Joe Biden Politics