Cancer Fight Shows Way For U.S., China To Cool Off, Collaborate
Forbes
The following is an excerpt of an article originally published in Forbes detailing Asia Society Policy Institute President Kevin Rudd's remarks at the 2020 Forbes China Global Healthcare Summit.
Amid increasing talk of a Cold War between the U.S. and China, the two countries should look to their successes in the fight against cancer as a way forward, former Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said at a global online healthcare summit organized by Forbes China on Saturday.
“As the international community continues to navigate a fractured and uncertain world with COVID-19, the war on cancer is showing us the power of collaboration, even while managing a strategic competition among nations,” said Rudd, currently president of the New York-based Asia Society Policy Institute.
“Ultimately, the results of this cooperation between the world’s two largest economies is accelerating the improvements in cancer outcomes for patients in the United States, China as well as the rest of the world. It is therefore vitally important that this cooperation is allowed to continue, and it is a shame the same level of cooperation is yet to be the hallmark of the global fight against COVID-19 as well.”
The 2020 Forbes China Healthcare Summit gathered to discuss the theme of “Advancing the Global Fight Against Cancer in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era.” The event was held in strategic partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Forbes China is the Chinese-language edition of Forbes.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic this year has led to more than three-quarters of million deaths globally as of Aug. 15, cancer will likely kill far more people around the world this year– close to 10 million. Cancer patients are more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 than others, and have more than double the COVID-19 death rate compared to COVID-19 patients without cancer.
“No one is so far immune to cancer,” noted Rudd.