Casting cancer as a scourge with no boundaries, Vice President Joe Biden came to the Vatican on Friday to call for a global commitment to fund cancer research rooted in appreciation for the real people’s lives that doctors and researchers hold in their hands.
Biden, who lost a son to cancer last year, used his appearance at a Vatican conference on regenerative medicine to urge philanthropists, corporations and governments to increase funding and information-sharing in a bid to “end cancer as we know it.” He said the world is on the cusp of unprecedented breakthroughs but said the world still has not done enough.
“Cancer is a constant emergency,” the vice president said.
“Cancer’s not a national problem, it’s an international problem. It’s a human problem. It affects all races, all religions.”
Pope Francis spoke directly after Biden, a particular treat for the Catholic vice president, Biden’s aides said.