Demand more for childhood cancer survivors.

Not only do childhood cancer survivors have to go through debilitating treatment just to survive, but their lives going forward are often riddled with more pain. After enduring exposure to such toxicity at a young age, it is not surprising that a new JAMA study found that by age 45, almost 80% of survivors have a life-threatening, disabling, or serious health condition.

We must demand better for these children. For a century, the American Cancer Society has been received billions in donations for research and have failed miserably. 

Putting more resources into prevention should be priority number one. For example, public health messages and education protocols should be mandatory for young men and women who are in the prime of their child-bearing years. As we now know, how these young people treat their bodies does not just affect them, but several generations in the future. A few simple lifestyle choices made as little as six months before a couple tries to conceive can make all the difference in producing healthier offspring. 

In our culture of instant gratification, it would be a monumental task to convince young people to think several generations ahead. But we must try. In the current paradigm, childhood cancer survival rates are much higher, but at what cost to their quality of life? For what they went through, they deserve better than a life of pain.