Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters), President Joe Biden announced Wednesday plans to cut the death from cancer rates by at most 50% in the next 25 year. It is part of an effort for the revival of the “Cancer Moonshot” initiative, which aims to increase research speed and improve the availability of treatments.

Biden led the program as vice president of Obama’s administration. It also seeks to increase cancer prevention and detection. Biden’s 46-year-old son Beau was diagnosed with brain cancer and died in 2015. The president said that this helped to inspire Jill Biden, his first wife, and their love for the project.

New efforts will include the appointment of a White House coordinator and the formation of a cancer cabinet to bring together government departments and agencies. This will also revive access for cancer screenings. The White House will host a summit that brings together all stakeholders to launch a website, build upon the six-month old cancer roundtable discussion series, and also hold a summit.

Researchers said that it was going to take major changes in American cancer research in order for the program’s goals to be met.

According to a top administration official, “A lot of things have changed so it is possible now to set really ambitious targets right now.” He also stated that Wednesday would not see any new funding commitments.

According to the official, there have been “decades of scientific advances” in five years. His examples included preventative annual blood screenings that detect cancer.

White House confirmed that Jill Biden as well as Vice President Kamala Harris would attend. Shyamala Gopalan Harris, Harris’s mother died in 2009 from colon cancer.