“We know that we cannot always find fast cures to complex illnesses, but we can be prompt in caring for these people, who often feel abandoned and ignored”, he said.
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“Most importantly, we want everyone to understand that no one has to choose between science and faith”, Dr. Robin Smith, president of the Stem for Life Foundation and one of the three-day conference organizers, said in a welcoming speech Tuesday.
Pope Francis echoed Biden’s remarks on Friday, arguing that the medical industry could improve its treatment of cancer patients. He said the world is on the cusp of unprecedented breakthroughs but said the world still has not done enough.
He said a global coalition would be required to reach a cure for cancer, with concentration on a set of principles including a renewed focus on preventative measures, an urgency similar to infectious disease and an increase in the coordination of research.
Cancer, he said, “is not a national problem, it’s an worldwide problem, it’s a human problem”, and urged participants to use their intelligence to make things “a little bit better”, and to comfort and heal those who are “frightened and in need”.
Biden, whose 46-year old son Beau Biden died from brain cancer last year, made an emotional speech at a stem cell summit thanking Francis for counselling his family during the pontiff’s visit to the United States. It affects the rich, the poor, all races, all religions, and those with no religion. They were also seen chatting together as they greeted conference attendees after their speeches, joined by the vice president’s son, Hunter Biden, and son-in-law Howard Krein, a physician who’s been involved in Biden’s cancer push.
While in Iraq, Biden also stopped briefly in Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s mostly autonomous northern Kurdish region, where he met with Kurdish President Massoud Barzani.
“Now is not the time for government gridlock or bickering”, President Barack Obama said last week in Saudi Arabia about the protests. “But I’ve been on the other end of the need”.
Fox News stated that after talks with the Congress, President Obama will ask for a $755 million out of next year’s budget to fund cancer research. Biden said that his “one regret” is not having the opportunity to be president to “preside over a fundamental change in the effort to cure and/or to turn some cancers into chronic deceases”. Only a fraction has been approved so far.
Biden’s trip, which was kept secret before his arrival, coincided with a tumultuous moment for Iraq and its prime minister, who is battling to hold on to his office amid a paralyzing political crisis, a badly weakened economy and a grinding war against ISIS.
He then met Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi for a closed-door discussion.
Last night’s White House Pool Report, written by New York Times correspondent Gardiner Harris, features a very amusing anecdote involving Biden, Gardiner (the “pooler”), and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State.
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Information for this article was contributed by Josh Lederman and Frances D’Emilio of The Associated Press and by Greg Jaffe of The Washington Post.
