Would this world cope with a cure for cancer?

[JCL - the new kid in town]

Additionally,if you go along with the 'powerful and rich' theory,what is to stop another load of equally powerful and rich people from taking up the reins and making a killing?

exactly, who do you think is going to manufacture this new drug? some big drug company owned by rich people therefore making even more money

 

[BLOCK F]

JCL,you've lost me.
I was talking specifically about electric cars.
As far as a cancer cure is concerned,what is your point?If a cure was to be found,it would benefit the masses not just the few.

 

[martyn20]

A cure would be a wonderful breakthrough, I don't see a downside to people not dying

 

[Superphil]

A cure would never be free, the pharmaceutical industry would never allow it, especially as there would be major losses following the scapping of all the existing treatment drugs.

You say that, but what if a philanthropist funds it, someone like Bill Gates for example? Going by what he's done over the past few years, he'd want nothing from the discovery, and would want to make sure it got to as many people as possible. Then the only cost would be production, and the production of drugs is not that costly, it's the 'royalties' for want of a better phrase, that makes drug production so expensive.

 

[DIFFBROOK]

There will never be a cure for "Cancer" as cancer is a fairly generic term. There is already a vaccine against the HPV virus that causes most cervical cancers. That should bring down the number of that type of cancers and with it some cases of throat cancer and penile cancer.

Then there treatments for testicular cancer, which are bringing down the deaths from that type cancer. I believe that we are on our way to either preventing some cancers happening i.e through other vaccines, or having treatments that if not "cure" will mean that our conditions are "managed" throughout are later lives (as this is when most cancers appear) and that we die with the disease and not because of it.

My main concern is equality of treatment. Cancer treatment is expensive. Will the NHS be able to afford this high quality cancer treatment for all, or will it continue to be rationed. Meaning only the well off will have access to it via their private health insurance.

 

[jgmcdee]

If we, WE, create the cure that works. Then surely we can just sell it on in exchange for the resources we need to cope with the boom

We could start with spending some of it on another striker.