Lung Cancer vs. AIDS: A Tale of Two Stigmas
In 2007, 14,561 Americans died of AIDS. By comparison, 24,059 Americans who had never smoked in their lives died of lung cancer in 2007. Also that year, lung cancer took the lives of 80,195 Americans who had quit smoking. The total death toll in America from lung cancer in 2007 was 160,390. More Americans have died from lung cancer over the last four years than have died from AIDS since it was first identified in the United States in 1981.
Yet, the total federal funding per death from AIDS in 2007 was $203, 029.00. By stark contrast, the total federal funding per death from lung cancer in 2007 was $1,400.00.
It is time to eliminate the stigma of lung cancer! Lung cancer matters, too! Help us spread the word!
Sources: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Lung Cancer Alliance.