Biden and Pope Francis team up against cancer

[ucrdem]

Source: CBS-AP

VATICAN CITY -- 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 not enough has been done.

"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."

{snip}

CBS News correspondent Seth Doane says this was the third time the conference had been held at the Vatican, bringing together doctors, patients and philanthropists with religious and government leaders. Biden called it a gathering of "some of the most brilliant minds in the world."

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/joe-biden-pope-francis-vatican-appeal-for-cancer-research/

---

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden talks with Pope Francis in Paul VI hall at the Vatican April 29, 2016.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/30/world/europe/joe-biden-speaks-about-faith-and-curing-cancer-at-the-vatican.html

[JDPriestly]

1. Bernie teams up with the Vatican and Pope Francis to talk about the worship of money.

Biden teams up with Pope Francis to talk about cancer.

Interesting contrast. Both are good causes, but Bernie's is the one that will help the most people. Biden's will help those who can afford a cure.

I wish Biden had teamed up with Pope Francis to talk about universal, truly affordable, non-profit healthcare for everybody in America.

I guess that is just too much to hope for.

[onehandle]

12. Sour grapes.

are so bitter.

[JDPriestly]

19. Not sour grapes. I just want universal heath care for all because I enjoyed it when I

lived in Europe. It's great.

I was talking to a friend who is changing jobs last night. The Obamacare plans will cost her a fortune if she takes a lower paying job. If she doesn't work and gets a subsidy, then she gets health insurance she can afford.

Obamacare is a step in the right direction, but for many, many people it is not a big enough step to make sure they are really covered.

We need universal, single payer, non-profit health insurance. And we need it as soon as possible. We pay too much to our insurance companies for our health insurance.

[liberalnarb]

43. Just heard on my local news station

The Pope has actually just reached out to the US about Universal Healthcare!

[JDPriestly]

46. Hurrah! Maybe Biden had a private conference that was not reported.

French doctors saved my life at a time when we were "between jobs." I will never forget it. I have so many reasons to support universal, single payer, truly affordable healthcare.

[karynnj]

16. In fairness, this was the Pope's conference and it is great that he brings the people together that

he can.

Bernie was at a Vatican conference that dealt with income inequality -- and he spoke to that. Biden - at this conference has been working on the issue of cancer, which is every bit as personal to him as the other conference was to Bernie.

I love that the Obama administration has been willing to join forces with Pope Francis when they are on the same page. It was a big deal when Pope Francis spoke in favor of the climate change accord. I know that the US and the Vatican were on the same page on the issue of human trafficking.

Our interests will not always coincide, but where they do, Pope Francis is a strong, clear voice.

[JDPriestly]

20. I agree. I did not mean to put Biden down. I mean that we need universal, truly

affordable health insurance for everyone.

Biden knows this. He should make a statement. Even Obamacare is too expensive for many people who need it so much.

Look at the articles about the number of people who showed up for a free healthcare clinic in Los Angeles recently. The need for less expensive, no co-pay health insurance is very great among working people, the unemployed, the poor. And those are the people this Pope cares about.

Biden is being foisted up as a possible presidential candidate should Hillary not be able to actually run.

If that situation should arise, I want Bernie who has run in the primary and succeeded beyond anyone's imagination to be the candidate, not Biden.

I like Biden, but it would be really terrible should he be the successor candidate to Hillary. And the way Biden is being pushed recently makes me wonder about Hillary's candidacy. It's not a reality. It is just something I am wondering about. These are things that people at my level in society don't get to know about until it is too late to do anything to correct a bad situation.

I have not reason to think that anything will happen to Hillary's candidacy except the way that certain images (of Biden for example) are being imposed on us.

[karynnj]

36. I think that has nothing to do with Presidential politics

Obama has given Biden the space to work on the issue of trying to do something to facilitate research on cancer. In a way, government has tried this repeatedly. We are of the same generation and both remember wars on cancer etc. All well meaning, but in many cases it is not clear what was gained -- though on many cancers we do have far more tools than when we were young.

This conference will likely do more because of chance encounters (or planned ones) between various researchers from many countries. It could be that while sitting at a dinner, a scientist might describe something he is doing that relates to what someone else has tried. It is easy to imagine the vague outline of conversations that lead to collaborations or maybe giving insight into what worked or what failed in someone else's work.

Here, Pope Francis sponsoring this probably gets more scientists, businessmen etc to attend. That might describe part of what Biden is doing as well -- and what many universities, research hospitals and philanthropists have tried in different ways to accomplish.

Obviously, none of this helps if the person has no or inadequate healthcare. That was not the issue of the conference. Pope Francis last September did speak to the issue - calling on Catholic hospitals to help. http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20150924/NEWS/150929924

For Biden to bring an American issue up at the Vatican would be strange -- and that could be political.

[JDPriestly]

38. Biden is a politician, and truly universal healthcare is a political issue.

Biden should bring it up as often as he can.

[CreekDog]

21. yeah fighting inequality is better than fighting cancer

yeah whatever, you just go with that.

[JDPriestly]

37. Let's do both. We can, and Biden should be leading the effort on both fronts.

That is my point. Healthcare and cures should not just be for the wealthy. Biden himself almost said that.

[BeanMusical]

52. You're obviously the one who makes sense in this exchange. +1

[redwitch]

57. Equally important in my view. nt

[CreekDog]

45. i don't understand why you want Biden to talk about a particular health plan in one nation

have you really thought through the purpose of meeting a world leader?

[JDPriestly]

47. Because people are paying attention, and because the Pope would love it if he did, I suspect very

strongly.

[BeanMusical]

54. :Creekets:

[Iliyah]

2. This is good!

[yallerdawg]

6. When you actually MEET the pope...

there are pictures!

Is it a miracle?

[BeanMusical]

55. What a stupid thing to say.

Where are Hillary's transcripts BTW? And a real copy of her medical files would be nice instead of a meager note almost wrote on a napkin. She really, really doesn't look good lately.

[Thinkingabout]

63. Don't try to divert a special moment such as VP Biden meeting with the Pope on a

Special occasion in trying to get funding to develop cures for cancer.

[BeanMusical]

70. Oh the irony!

You're killing me.

[tymorial]

84. Are you kidding me with this comment?

There are simply no words...

[yallerdawg]

66. This is GD-P.

All I see is stupid things.

[BeanMusical]

71. Damn, really?

Is it possible that you are confusing your computer screen with a mirror?

[yallerdawg]

74. No.

I'm looking at what you posted.

Definitely not a mirror.

[BeanMusical]

77. Thanks for your most valued input, is something that you've probably never heard.

[yallerdawg]

80. And something YOU will never hear from me.

Now, we haven't lost our friendship over this penny-ante primary stuff, have we?

[BeanMusical]

92. My heart is broken.

[lamp_shade]

3. The glow on Joe's face is priceless.

[ucrdem]

4. It's nice to see him smiling again.

He's been awfully dispirited.

p.s. video report:

Vice President Biden speaks about cancer "moonshot" at the Vatican

APRIL 29, 2016, 12:42 PM | At a conference at the Vatican, Vice President Joe Biden called for a global commitment to find a cure to cancer. CBS News foreign correspondent Seth Doane joins CBSN with more details.

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/vice-president-biden-speaks-about-cancer-moonshot-at-the-vatican/

[MADem]

5. He had no trouble getting an actual meeting, I see!

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/04/29/biden-pope-francis-press-for-universal-access-to-medical-cures/

AND a photo op!!!

[JonLeibowitz]

8. I feel sorry for people so filled with hate they respond like this. best wishes to you!

Bless your heart.

[Purveyor]

11. Just lonely, scorned old souls I imagine... Nothing to even bother with. eom

[MADem]

13. Are you "so filled with hate" that you feel a need to snark at me, personally, for pointing out

a simple FACT?

Bless YOUR obvious little heart!

[JonLeibowitz]

14. No snark, I just feel sorry for you.

[MADem]

17. Please save your pity for your own self....

And use that tweezers to get the beam outta your own eye, pal!

[BeanMusical]

56. Psst, don't look now but...

You have a sequoia in yours, dear. And I also pity you.

[MADem]

59. Oh, there you are!

[BeanMusical]

61. Hum...

Your father was a hamster and your mother smelled of elderberries!

[MADem]

78. Hum...or sing along, if you'd rather.

[BeanMusical]

79. Speaking of rat:

[MADem]

83. What is that about? "Rat" is a rather pejorative way that cretins like Karl Rove

referred to Democrats. The first person to bring up "rat" in this thread was .... YOU.

Sure you want to continue down that road?

[BeanMusical]

94. "The first person to bring up "rat" in this thread was .... YOU"

What is that about? "Rat" is a rather

or sing along, if you'd rather.

[MADem]

95. Your behavior IS noted. nt

[senz]

81. lol that is so beyond me, BeanMusical

I have no idea what it means.

But I do think it's extremely unintelligent of anyone to compare Bernie's noble Vatican visit with Biden's noble Vatican visit.

It would, however, be interesting if Biden were being groomed for sudden entrance into the Dem primary...

[frylock]

25. And your motivation for pointing out that simple fact?

[BeanMusical]

60. Hum, my diagnosis is a little Freudian:

That poster's father was a hamster and their mother smelled of elderberries.

Hum, no, not Freudian. I meant Pythonesque.

[MADem]

65. This post was about Biden, the Pope and cancer, until it got political at post 1.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

This is a political discussion board--do you object to political discussion on a political discussion board?

[frylock]

68. C'mon, really?

POPEGHAZI!!!1!2

[JDPriestly]

22. My problem is with the lack of a concerted campaign for universal healthcare.

It isn't that I am so bitter. It's that I want homeless drug addicts and people who can't afford the huge deductibles on the bronze plans, etc. to have good healthcare access, the kind of access I had when I lived in Europe. And I lived in four different European countries, none of which had our huge military, all of which had good, affordable healthcare access for every single citizen -- even inveterate alcoholics and the poorest of the poor.

We can do this. It's great to work for a cure for cancer. I'm at an age at which I am watching my friends recover from cancers that were death sentences just a few years ago. But I want access to that kind of healthcare for all my friends, not just the upper middle class and wealthy ones.

Biden could do a lot to push the cause of universal, single payer, non-profit health insurance while he is pushing for cures for cancer. (It won't be just one cure for all cancers.)

Let's keep our eye on the real ball which is the fact that the poor do not live as long as the rich because of the difference in the access to healthcare. A poor child loves his parents just as much as a rich one does, and vice-versa.

[MADem]

27. Maybe you should read what Biden SAID before you gripe at/about him.

Biden, Pope Francis press for universal access to medical cures

The Vice President also called for an international response that brings the same urgency to cancer that is brought to infectious diseases, such as HIV. Among the things he proposed were the sharing and standardization of information and universal access to treatment, saying it “can’t belong only to the powerful.”

Becoming visibly emotional, Biden insisted: “(Information) should be made available to the public immediately! Why do you wait? Why, what’s the rationale?”

“We’re here in this sacred place as a reminder that it’s within us (to do more)”

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/04/29/biden-pope-francis-press-for-universal-access-to-medical-cures/

[JDPriestly]

32. Thanks. That is a great statement, but he should more explicitly stand against the

for-profit insurance industry. Making the cures immediately available to all is great but at what cost? It's the middle class, the lower middle class that pays to much for that access.

I have a several friends who have recovered or are doing very well after cancer treatments and I want everybody to have that kind of medical care.

I'm with Biden no that. But he needs to talk about how to move from Obamacare into an system that is truly affordable and can cover all.

[MADem]

67. Good grief. Now it's "not enough?"

I don't think he's going to take advice from you any time soon. You completely mischaracterized him in post one, so you're batting .000 on this topic.

He's not running for POTUS. He won't have any authority in that regard come January of next year. He's got a full plate dealing with this cancer effort, and he's not going to undermine his BOSS.

smh.

[JDPriestly]

86. We will check with our European friends.

The co-pays will not be nearly what they are here -- which is horrendous.

Americans get mostly debt no matter what. It's just low pay and lots of credit.

That cannot work forever.

The very wealthy who collect the rents, the interest on the debt, need to understand that unless they pay people well they can't collect on their debts.

The economic inequality in this country is just devastating to many, many people.

Yesterday while I was campaigning for Bernie, a man walked up to our table and sat down and simply said he had too much credit card debt. He was a working man, not well dressed, but he looked strong and was very, very depressed looking. What could we say. He is a student and works. What more can he do. People cannot live on the pay they are getting.

And the odd thing is that while he was paying 15%-18% on his debt, when you put money in a savings account at the bank, you receive less than 2%, sometimes less than 1%. Where is the money that is earned from credit card interest going? To the very wealthy, it appears.

There is almost no way that an ordinary working person can save or get ahead. It's just getting behind all the time -- no matter what the official job reports say.

That's why we need at least to have universal, single payer, non-profit healthcare for all available. If people want to pay more for premium plans, fine. Small co-pays, say $5 per visit or prescription are OK, but co-pays that exceed small amounts, and that is what you get with some of the Obamacare plans and COBRA plans, are unacceptable.

[MADem]

87. Yeah, don't believe those Euro Greens, they're all a buncha liars! LOL!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1432554


I didn't get credit cards until I could afford to pay back stuff on credit. I don't even have one now, I let my old ones lapse after I retired--I probably should get one, because I travel a lot but I haven't gotten off my behind and bothered. I've done fine without one. You can get Euros and dollars and use debit cards when needs must.

The "easy credit living" con game never appealed to me. Some people got caught up in it, they viewed their homes--their HOMES--as ATMs and they got screwed.

Were lenders assholes to sell people on "easy credit?" Sure. Were people stupid to buy it? Sure.

They need to teach Personal Finance in public schools.

Your friend who can't live on the pay he is getting would probably be better off if he didn't get those credit cards in the first place--but everyone needs the newest TV, the best car, the finest home--and they think "Oh well, I will pay for it later." But they won't--they will end up losing everything.

Why do you think getting a huge return on your savings is 'good?' That's a sign of INFLATION. In Islam, it's prohibited--you can charge bank fees, and you can provide "profit sharing," but you don't benefit off usury.

You haven't really made your case--European health care is in dire straits--again, read that essay from the Greens (not me--the Euro Greens).

If they can't do it, how in hell do you think we're going to do it?

It's a long road that has no turning.

[JDPriestly]

89. This is absolutely true: "They need to teach Personal Finance in public schools."

My complaint is not that interest on savings should be higher.

My question is what do the banks do with the difference between the interest rates on credit card (and certain other debt) and the interest they pay depositors on deposit and savings accounts? Who gets that? Probably the same people who take everything else.

My husband and I are with you when it comes to our own spending habits. His car is 26 years old and mine is 20 years old. He is quite good with cars.

If you think that European health care is not economically viable, are you saying that the middle class and poor should do without and die without it? Because that is the choice. I'm in favor of truly affordable healthcare for all. I want for-profit companies to have only those customers who truly want the private rooms and luxury in the hospital. All that is not necessary for me. When I had my first child, I was in a room with 12 other healthy women. I had complications and was required to stay for 2 weeks. That is no longer required in the US even for most caesareans.

My goal is to take that portion of our healthcare dollars that go to profit for health care insurance companies out of the costs. Those dollars are not necessary. Nothing against capitalism, but no one needs to make profits from the health emergencies or chronic conditions and illnesses of others. Doctors and medical personnel should earn good money, but profits to health insurance investors and large salaries to health insurance management? No. Not necessary.

[BeanMusical]

69. Speaking of Vice-President Biden:

Joe Biden praises Bernie Sanders for 'thinking big'

"I like the idea of saying, 'We can do much more,' because we can," Biden told The New York Times in an interview published Thursday.

"I don't think any Democrat's ever won saying, 'We can't think that big — we ought to really downsize here because it's not realistic,'" Biden said. "C'mon man, this is the Democratic Party! I'm not part of the party that says, 'Well, we can't do it.'"

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/22/politics/joe-biden-bernie-sanders/

[MADem]

73. Mmm hmmm!

http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-dem-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/04/joe-biden-woman-president-221801

This country’s ready for a woman," Biden said. "There’s no problem. We’re gonna be able to elect a woman in this country. I would like to see a woman elected.”
After Biden brushes off what sounds like his team trying to end the interview, he adds that both he and President Barack Obama decided not to endorse a Democratic candidate in the primary. He then wades into a simmering dispute between Clinton's and Sanders' campaigns about whether the other candidate is fit for the top job in the country.
“But gosh almighty, they’re both qualified,” he said, adding, “Hillary’s overwhelmingly qualified to be president.”

[BeanMusical]

76. Hum, your post is 11 days older than mine.

[MADem]

82. That's special.

[BeanMusical]

91. You think?

[senz]

85. First Biden praises Bernie, then he shows up in Iraq, then this.

He showed up in Iraq yesterday. We were talking about his suddenly raised profile over here.

May we live in interesting times.

[No Vested Interest]

39. Could the meeting have long been scheduled?

It's unnecessary for me to point out that VP Biden is no longer running for political office, so a photo op is not relevant.

[MADem]

75. Of course it was--he was invited, because the Pope wanted to put the spotlight on cancer,

and Biden holds the American portfolio on that topic. Doesn't hurt that Francis met Biden--a sincere and devout Catholic--when he came over and addressed Congress in his capacity as a world leader.

Biden sneaked over to Iraq using this very Vatican meeting as "cover." He got on the plane and everyone figured he was heading straight to Rome, only he stopped by Baghdad first and looped back.

The photo op is important because the Pope wants to make it clear to America that the topic of cancer is at the head of his To Do list. The best way to do that is to be photographed with the senior politician in charge of our "cancer moonshot." He will be on all the news programs this evening.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

7. Who invited Biden, and who paid his airfare? Did he fly coach?

But, I don't care. It's nice that Bernie got to meet the pope, same with Joe. It's nice they flew in better-than-coach seats.

I hope something comes of each meeting.

[MADem]

15. Bernie didn't "meet" the Pope. They didn't sit down and have a meeting.

Last edited Fri Apr 29, 2016, 06:01 PM - Edit history (1)

The Pope shook his hand as he was heading out the door to Greece.

Biden had an actual private "sit down" with the Pontiff.


Oh, and on edit--Biden was on his way back from his Top Secret Trip to Iraq. It was a stop on the way home, so it didn't cost too much "extra."

http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2016-04-29/biden-to-see-pope-francis-discuss-cancer-cures-at-vatican

For Biden, the stately corridors and costumed Swiss Guards of Vatican City were an about-face from the scene just hours earlier, when the vice president visited Iraq on an unannounced visit. In Iraq, Biden worked to smooth over deep sectarian tensions threatening Iraq's political system; at the Holy See, he appealed for all religions to see defeating cancer as a means to express values of faith, love and hope.

[JDPriestly]

26. Biden is the Vice President. I wish he would also advocate for single payer, non-profit

health insurance that ordinary people could really afford.

That's my point. I enjoyed that kind of insurance when I lived in Europe for quite a number of years. We need it here. The need for it was brought home to me last night when a friend of mine who is changing jobs told me what it would cost her to have a bronze Obamacare plan. I was horrified. She is older but not old enough for Medicare. We have to do better than that. It is bad enough to lose your job because the young people around you have prettier, healthier looking faces. But it is a terrible fact at the age of 60 something to know that if you do get cancer, you will have to spend down a significant portion of your retirement savings to pay the co-pays for Obamacare's Bronze Plan until you finally reach the magic age at which you qualify for Medicare.

It's tough out here for a lot of people.

More fortunate people don't ever sit down and actually talk to a person who is having a tough financial time. It's as if those people don't exist.

That's one of the things I like about Bernie. If you watch the Rachel Maddow interview with Jane Sanders that is posted here on DU, you will learn that among his constituents, his own Vermont constituents, Bernie is the most popular senator of all senators. That is to say that no other senator is as well liked by his or her constituents as Bernie.

That is to me the most accurate measure of a senator's performance in Congress -- the approval rating of his own constituents for his representation.

Feel the Bern! And I wish Biden would advocate for universal, single-payer, non-profit healthcare. I'm sure the Pope does not realize how difficult access to healthcare can be for poor people, especially certain of our immigrants, in the US.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

35. Single-payer would be the best way to do medical care for all.

I'm not sure the pope has the political power to overcome the congressional corruption that will prevent such a plan.

[JDPriestly]

49. Biden could edge us further toward that, and should because right now he knows

what access to healthcare really means. It is a matter of life or death. It is a matter of security for many families and individuals.

[MADem]

40. Apparently you forget his "Big F....king Deal" comment to BHO.

And you might want to take some time to review his comments at the Vatican.

He advocated for UNIVERSAL ACCESS to treatments/cures...that shouldn't be just for the "rich and powerful."

Easier to complain, though, isn't it?

There are no PEOPLE in VT. There are more people in GREATER BOSTON than there are in the whole state of VT. Mayor Marty Walsh has more to worry about than Governor Shumlin.

VT is a place of people who don't like big cities, who have a rural, countrified, slow-pace mindset, who are mostly white and make more money per capita than most people. Of course they like him. It's a small audience, and he votes the way they like and goes along with their wishes, changing his mind as needed. This accounts for his gun votes, his regime change in Iraq votes (x2), his advocacy of civil unions rather than marriage in 2006 (because marriage equality, HE said, would be "too divisive" -- see, he LISTENED to Vermonters, who were against it back then), his vigorous support of military hardware expenditures (VT is the Green Mountain State--where the Green Mountain Boys come from).

VT is also the place that--just this past year--REJECTED UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE. Why? TOO EXPENSIVE. All that number crunching couldn't make it work. It went down in FLAMES.

The very poor and destitute are never turned away in the USA. The fact of the matter is, if you're "working poor" you have a harder time getting quality health care. We can improve the situation and we should--but half a loaf IS better than none.

As Biden said,

[JDPriestly]

42. Europe has universal, truly affordable healthcare. There is no excuse for the fact that

American still have overwhelming co-pays when they need care.

I have relatives who had to go on Medical to get the extremely expensive cancer medications that have kept them alive. We need universal, extremely low cost healthcare, not for-profit healthcare insurance.

I will not give up on this. People lose their homes, their life savings, everything to buy cancer medications that are created thanks to research that is often funded by the taxpayers. That is wrong.

[MADem]

51. When was the last time you were in Europe? Docs went on STRIKE in UK!

It's not all "happy families" these days--that "truly affordable" healthcare does you no good if you can't ACCESS it due to long waits. Now, you can ignore me--or you can take the time to actually read these articles:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3558754/It-s-not-fault-patients-die-strike-union-leaders-tell-junior-doctors-BMA-says-safety-responsibility-NHS-trusts-not-individuals-says-ignore-calls-return-work.html

Yeah, Doctor Strikes are a sign of a "great" Healthcare system....

This plotline was worked into the BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL story, where Maggie Smith went to India to get a hip replacement because she was WHEELCHAIR BOUND and turned down/the wait was too long:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/04/27/hip-replacement-surgery-denied-to-thousands-each-year-despite-nh/


Even the Helpline is under fire for incompetence:

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-04-23/five-deaths-in-five-months-after-problems-with-nhs-111-helpline/

NHS has a 30 BILLION pound deficit. That's not chump change--something's got to give, and what is giving to this point is quality of patient care. People erroneously think there's no private or employer insurance in UK--that's just not true. If you don't have that, you wait, and wait, and wait...for months if not years, for many procedures.

It's not just UK, either--but don't believe ME....listen to the GREENS in this 7 April 2016 report:

https://europeangreens.eu/news/impact-austerity-our-health

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a report that contained staggering numbers on European Member States’ health expenditure. They stated that many countries continue to see health spending below levels of spending in 2009. Notably, since 2009, there has been a difference in healthcare expenditure between the EU OECD states and non-EU OECD states. Both of these groups showed similar growth before the financial crisis hit, which is where the numbers diverge. European countries in particular saw a hefty decline in health spending after 2010.

Some Member States even had their growth numbers completely reversed. Greece for example went from 5.4% annual growth straight to a -7.2% decline. Ireland went from 5.3% growth to a decline of -4%.

According to a different report by the European Parliament citizens’ access to healthcare has been in decline most notably in; Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Cyprus, Spain, Portugal and Italy. The problems vary by country. In Spain, access to healthcare underwent a radical transformation. Where people used to have unlimited and free access to health provisions, the system now grants access depending on the employment status. In Ireland, medical cards used to provide free entitlement to healthcare for seniors above the age of 70. These cards have been scrapped since 2009. Participation fees were introduced in Cyprus, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Greece. These participation fees, including an automatic indexation, already existed in Belgium and in Ireland. In Ireland however, these fees rose due to additional austerity measures.

These cuts in health expenditure also bring a wide variety of side-effects. In Spain the number of suicides, HIV and tuberculosis cases have increased. Locally transmitted malaria has again been seen for the first time in 40 years in Greece. Interventions in the pharmaceutical market led to a shortage in supply of certain medicines. In Portugal and Greece, 22% of pharmacies reported a shortage of insulin, which is a life-saving drug for diabetes patients. People are postponing or even suspending doctor visits more due to a lack of coverage or insufficient coverage. Most notably in Belgium young people – below age 30 – and single-parent families find themselves postponing specialised healthcare like dental care.

Austerity measures in healthcare have also led to a decline in available medical staff as jobs got cut during the process. In Spain medical staff saw their salaries reduced and eventually their salaries were frozen. Similar measures were undertaken in Ireland and Greece. More physicians are moving from the public sector to the private sector which in turn leads to a lack of staff in public health institutions. All of the above in turn leads to an exponential increase in waiting times. The numbers are staggering. In Cyprus the average waiting time – even for life-threatening conditions – is a whopping seven months! In 2012, Spain had more than 570,000 people awaiting surgery.

It is not "utopia" in Europe, and it hasn't been for a LONG time.

smh.

[JDPriestly]

50. I just say that I hope that Biden becomes the strongest advocate out there for universal,

non-profit, single-payer health care in America.

[MADem]

53. I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

I will opine that he will continue to be an advocate for universal ACCESS to affordable cures, but that's as far as I'd go. He is tied to Obama in that BFD. It's his baby, too.

[MADem]

23. Doesn't he hold the "American portfolio" on Curing Cancer? The "Moonshot Brief?"

He's heading up the US government's efforts in this regard--his capacity is official.

During his State of the Union address on January 12, 2016, President Barack Obama announced the establishment of a new National Cancer Moonshot Initiative to accelerate cancer research. The initiative—led by Vice President Joe Biden—aims to make more therapies available to more patients, while also improving our ability to prevent cancer and detect it at an early stage.

http://www.cancer.gov/research/key-initiatives/moonshot-cancer-initiative

[JDPriestly]

44. And that is good, but we need to make sure everyone gets to benefit from that research

and the new treatments. That means that everyone has to be encouraged to get medical treatment at the first sign of symptoms and that buying the medications does not put people into bankruptcy. That means universal, single-payer, non-profit healthcare at least as an alternative to our current expensive, for-profit alternatives.

[MADem]

62. As was pointed out in my reply elsewhere about European healthcare, they aren't doing it, either.

"Participation fees" are another name for what we are doing over here. "Universal, single payer" is not happening in most of Europe, and it hasn't been for a while. Those "fees" and "costs" are hidden, but people ARE paying, and sometimes at Point of Care.

And that wasn't ME making those claims--it was the Euro Greens.

[No Vested Interest]

90. I hope he traveled in Air Force Two, especially inasmuch as he went

to Iraq before coming to the Vatican.
Joe Biden is a great example of what a public servant should be.

[Purveyor]

9. Sure seeing a lot of 'ole Joe lately, hmmmm??? eom

[LisaM]

10. Can't this just be about Joe Biden and the fight against cancer?

I think that was the intent of the OP. It obviously meant a lot to Biden, who, BTW, is Catholic. There was absolutely no reason to bring up Bernie Sanders in this context.

[MADem]

30. Post 1 killed that--not the OP. Biden's remarks centered on UNIVERSAL access to cures, which

apparently was missed in perusing his remarks.

[LisaM]

34. Yes, that was what I meant. n/t

[Enrique]

96. Cancer schmancer

Bernie thinks he's so cool, but Joe showed him who the Pope really likes!

[proverbialwisdom]

18. "Instead of fighting against disability & disease with cures, a never–ending struggle," prevention.

http://www.poisonedforprofit.org/book.php

POISONED FOR PROFIT
How Toxins Are Making Our Children Chronically Ill

[center]The U.S. now makes or imports 27 trillion pounds of chemicals per year
(not even counting pesticides, drugs, food additives or polymers).[/center]From autism to cancer

With indisputable data, the Shabecoffs reveal that the children of baby boomers—the first to be raised in a truly "toxified" world—have higher rates of birth defects, asthma, cancer, autism and a frightening range of other neurological illnesses from ADHD to mental retardation, and other serious chronic illnesses, than previous generations.

They reveal that one out of two pregnancies fails to come to term or results in a less than healthy child, that premature births and infertility are on the rise as this generation matures, while the ratio of male babies dwindles.

More.

Causing harm

Poisoned for Profit, based on more than five years of investigative research and reporting, reveals the cumulative scientific evidence connecting the massive increase in environmental poisons to the epidemic of disability, disease, and dysfunction among our nation´s children. More.

The manufacturers and their defense team

The authors conclude that the poisoning of the environment is as grave a threat to the future as any problem confronting our nation.

Yet even as individual parents and pediatricians struggle to fight illness, one child at a time, the public remains in the dark about the enormity of this crisis. Why? because corporations control the system, molding laws to their liking. The book shines a light on the motives and means of corporate-paid lawyers, “product defense” companies, fake grassroots groups, research centers and scientists, including one paid $600 an hour to watch a movie. More.

The Victims

Poisoned for Profit, cast as a crime story, relates what happens to the victims—the families and communities polluted by different toxic substances—by chemicals, heavy metals, industrial manufacturing, and nuclear waste. Here are the stories of Dickson, Tennessee, where an extraordinary number of babies were born with cleft lips and palates after landfill chemicals seeped into the water; and Port Neches, Texas, where so many graduates of a high school near a petrochemical plant contracted cancer that it was nicknamed “Leukemia High”; and a small brother and sister in Indiana who, exposed to pesticides, slipped into severe retardation. More.

Solutions

Instead of fighting against disability and disease with cures, a never–ending struggle, the authors affirm that we now have the knowledge to prevent harm and they describe the solutions...

books.google.com

"Brilliant... Every parent in America owes a debt of gratitude to Philip and Alice Shabecoff. (Poisoned for Profit) should be high on the ...President's reading list."
---Barry Commoner

"Powerful reporting backing powerful conclusions---it will make those of us with kids shudder, but hopefully it will also make us get out of our chairs and engage in the politics necessary to protect the future."
---Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy and The End of Nature

"Painstakingly researched and incontrovertible ... This should become an elemental text for all of us who wish to protect ourselves, and should be required reading for those who claim to be public servants."
---Peter Matthiessen, author of the Snow Leopard

"Into an arena filled with confusing claims and counterclaims, Philip and Alice Shabecoff have now brought their remarkable journalistic skills, providing us with clear-headed, accurate assessment of the toxic threat to America's children ... A highly readable indictment so powerful it may finally force action. We have needed this book..."
---James Gustave Speth, author of the Bridge at the End of the World

In a groundbreaking investigation, two veteran journalists definitively show how, why, and where industrial toxins are causing an explosion of birth defects, cancer, asthma, and other serious illnesses in American children. Philip and Alice Shabecoff follow the trail from corporate coffers through highly paid Washington lobbyists, into the laboratories of scientists-for-hire, to the offices of politicians responsible for regulation, and right back to our homes and schools---which are built, stocked, and "cleaned" with deadly toxics. Poisoned for Profit not only brings readers into the lives of children, families, and communities beset by environmental poisons, it also poses solutions to eradicate this crime, and offers parents a practical guide to protecting their children from harm.

[frylock]

24. Sooooooo... we like the Pope this week, or...?

Please advise.

[JDPriestly]

28. Sooooo. . . I want universal, single payer, non-profit, affordable healthcare for all

so that everyone can be benefit from the cures for cancer and other diseases, rich or poor, without the assistance of the bankruptcy laws.

[frylock]

31. I'm listening...

[arcane1]

29. Funny how that works, isn't it? n/t

[frylock]

33. Funny "haha", or funny "you have to be fucking shitting me with this hypocrisy"?

[MADem]

41. I think we like the Cancer Moonshot Thing this week. Like we did when Obama rolled it out in JAN.

What's not to like about universal access to a cure for cancer?

[frylock]

48. I got no beef with universal access to a cure for cancer.

Just like I'm cools with discussing The Urgency of a Moral Economy. It's just that a few short weeks ago, a certain group of *ahem* progressives were wadded up over any kind of interaction with the Vatican. Seems that there has been some significant evolution on that front.

[MADem]

58. Well, I think the "wadding" had to do with a couple of things....

First, the fact that there are a lot of Roman Catholics in NY. Second, that Francis is a popular guy in those parts. Third, that Jeffrey Sachs was a member of the Academy of Social Sciences. Fourth, that he went around the President of the Academy to the Chancellor to cadge an invite for Bernie. Fifth, that Bernie told two news outlets that a) The POPE invited him and b) He was going to MEET with FRANCIS!

It's all down to the "politicization" of the Pope--who, even though some DUers might hate him and get really violent about religion in public life, is a popular guy, even amongst the non-faithful, and despite the fact that his religion is certainly far from perfect. And what was funny is that some of those virulent/violent types were suddenly getting all misty eyed about Francis "because Bernie."

When people are seen to be using other people in a rather craven and obvious way, it jumps out.

Biden isn't "using" the Pope--if anything, the POPE is using Biden. We're AMERICA, doggone it--and while the Pope looks at us and wags his finger and calls us assholes for this intervention or that, the fact that Biden went over there, spoke, and met with Old Frank, ensures that the POPE's initiatives will make every evening news broadcast in America. It's a symbiotic relationship, if anything--but the Pope gets more out of it publicly, and Biden--owing to his deep Catholic faith (and it is deep) -- gets something out of it PERSONALLY.

Biden has nothing to "prove" here--the Pope can't help him get a better job. If anything, he helps the Pope by making people aware that the Vatican is on the "cancer case" too.

[Urchin]

64. What's to research?

Just stop eating sugar and other carbohydrates. Pope and Biden should Google it.

[Thinkingabout]

72. I am happy attention is given on cures for cancer, to combine with Pope Francis and more attention

To finding cures.

[DesertRat]

88. I love that picture

[dkhbrit]

93. Yes, cancer

But how about that scumbag pope lets people wear condoms to prevent the spread of deadly diseases huh? I don't care how 'moderate' people think Francis is, he still leads an organization that insists people follow rules that can kill them. He's scum.