Public health experts are taking issue with Vice President Joe Biden's "moonshot" initiative to speed up the
cancer fight, saying the disease-fighting focus ought to be on prevention.
In a letter Monday, about 70 pubic health experts warn Biden's initiative "may be undervaluing" the role prevention plays in reducing cancer,
The Hill reports.
"While curative treatments often appear more exciting to the public, investments in public health and prevention research hold even more promise for both short and long-term reductions in cancer incidence and mortality rates," write members of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, which includes the heads of the New York Medical College and Yale School of Public Health, The Hill reports.
"Developing cancer cures is essential, but controlling cancer is also a policy and public health challenge. We must operate on both fronts."
The Hill notes that although President Barack Obama proposed $1 billion to accelerate a cure for cancer in January, a
Tuft University report in 2014 figured the cost of bringing one new drug to market at $2.6 billion.