Recently, Biden administration officials shared a status update on the president’s Cancer Moonshot, one of the most ambitious domestic health policy initiatives in recent memory, inspired by the tragic death of President Joe Biden’s son, Beau, from brain cancer at the age of 46.
One of the key objectives of the Biden Cancer Moonshot – a whole-of-government approach to cut U.S. cancer rates in half by 2050 – is to “prevent more cancers before they start,” including by “reducing tobacco use.” Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death overall in the U.S. and, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is responsible for 90% of all lung cancer deaths – about 114,000 deaths annually.
