時差N小時:美國國家癌癥法案

During the first 30 years of the 20th century,America became a safer and healthier place. Livingconditions improved, causing many diseases toalmost disappear. One exception to this patternwas cancer, and in 1937 Congress established theNational Cancer Institute.

在20世紀(jì)前30年里，美國成為一個更安全更健康的國家。人民生活水平提高了，許多疾病也差不多銷聲匿跡了。唯一的例外就是癌癥。1937年國會成立了國家癌癥研究所。

By 1970, cancer had become the nation's secondleading cause of death. Texas Senator RalphYarborough sought to make its conquest a national priority. He led a group of medical experts,cancer advocates, and business leaders who explored the issue. They became commonly knownas the "Yarborough Commission."

到1970年，癌癥是造成人口死亡的第二大原因。德克薩斯州參議員拉爾夫力圖倡導(dǎo)國家大力抗擊癌癥。他還專門成立了小組來探討這個問題，成員包括醫(yī)療專家、癌癥倡導(dǎo)者以及商人領(lǐng)袖。

The Yarborough Report became the blueprint for the National Cancer Act, which was signedinto law in 1971 by President Richard Nixon. The National Cancer Act provided additionalfunding for the National Cancer Institute, establishing 15 new cancer research centers, localcancer control programs, and an international cancer data research bank.

理查德·尼克松總統(tǒng)于1971年簽署了國家癌癥法案，這條法案的藍(lán)圖就是 Yarborough 報告。國家癌癥法案為國家癌癥研究所提供了專項資金，并成立15處新的研究中心，地方癌癥控制項目以及國際癌癥研究資料庫。

Its passage received a boost when popular columnist Ann Landers encouraged a flood of mailfrom her readers, urging representatives to vote for the bill. The goal for a simple cure forcancer remains elusive. But scientific knowledge about cancer continues to grow. Newtechniques for detection, diagnosis, and treatment are constantly emerging, as a result ofefforts of Congress and the American people.

安·蘭德斯是一位廣受歡迎的專欄女作家，她鼓勵讀者們以郵件的方式強(qiáng)烈要求眾議院投票支持，這推動了法案的通過。但對癌癥患者進(jìn)行簡單的治療遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠。不過人類對癌癥的科學(xué)知識在不斷增長，新的檢查、診斷和治療方法也在不斷涌現(xiàn)，這些都是國會和美國人民一起努力的結(jié)果。