From what I’ve noticed, just because a politician gets a prostate cancer diagnosis, it doesn’t always mean things actually change with cancer research funding. Like, you’d think after Biden got diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer—especially since he pushed that Cancer Moonshot thing—money for research would go up, right? But I read recently there was actually a pretty big drop in federal funding for cancer research this year. It’s kinda wild since more people are talking about it, but the Senate even reported funding fell by 31% compared to last year.

Sometimes, if a politician really pushes it, you’ll see new initiatives or people pay more attention for a while, but the government has so many moving parts it’s not like one diagnosis flips a switch. And honestly, some people even use these health crises for their own political points instead of actually helping. I just hope more stories like Biden’s help people realize how messed up funding can get and push leaders to actually act—because real lives are on the line, not just headlines.