Volume 1

Report to the President : a national program to conquer heart disease, cancer and stroke.

  • United States. President's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke.
Date:
1964-1965
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report to the President : a national program to conquer heart disease, cancer and stroke. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    INTRODUCTION In his Special Health Message to the Congress in February 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson made the following announcement: “IT am establishing a Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke to recommend steps to reduce the incidence of these diseases through new knowl- edge and more complete utilization of the medical knowledge we already have.” Two months later, when the newly formed Commission first convened at the White House, he said: “Unless we do better, two-thirds of all Americans now living will suffer or die from cancer, heart disease or stroke. I expect you to do something about it.” Something can be done about it. Every day men and women are dying who need not die. Every hour families are being plunged into tragedy that need not happen. Wives are widowed, children left motherless—not for lack of scien- tific knowledge, but for lack of the right care at the right time. Every available fact points to the same conclusion—that the toll of heart disease, cancer and stroke can be sharply reduced now, in this nation, in this time. The sweep of scientific progress in the past decade has brought most forms of congenital heart disease within our powers of correction. Advances in sur- gery make it possible to save patients who would have been doomed five years ago; indeed, even one year ago. Rheumatic heart disease now can be virtually eliminated. Many strokes can be foreseen and prevented. Cancer of the cer- vix and uterus can be brought almost to the vanishing point, and chances are greatly improved for cure of cancer in other accessible sites, comprising over 70 percent of all cancer patients. These things can be done now, without further scientific advance. Meanwhile new knowledge of the fundamental processes of life promises great new weapons for the immediate future. Successful replacement of defective organs comes closer to reality each day. New methods of cancer detection and treatment are in immediate prospect. The way is there. All that is lacking is the national will to give our people the full measure of protection against their three most deadly enemies. The Commission is keenly aware that its Report will help to prolong life and ease suffering only if it is followed by vigorous action. Our aim is to kindle a re-dedication of our national health resources and a new awareness on the part of the American people, to the end that heart disease, cancer and stroke may be sharply reduced, increasingly controlled and ultimately conquered as enemies of Man. The facts provide abundant proof that the goal is worth the striving. Heart disease, cancer and stroke, taken together, claimed 1.2 million Ameri- xi