Paywalls Are Slowing the Quest For a Cancer Cure

Despite significant strides in research and treatments–from liquid biopsy to vaccines, from precision medicine to CAR T-cell therapy–cancer remains the leading cause of death across the globe, taking some 10 million lives annually. And beyond just the devastating human toll, cancer’s economic burden on patients and their families exceeds $21 billion each year, a number estimated to reach $25 trillion between now and 2050.  Recognizing that there is still much to do if we hope to ever beat this insidious disease, the White House announced recently a $240 million investment in the reinvigorated Cancer Moonshot initiative, which aims to cut the cancer death rate by half in the next 25 years.   [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Yet funding and policy, while critical, aren’t enough when it comes to enabling scientific breakthroughs; unfettered access to the latest research is just as vital. With this understanding the White House provided a clear pathway for speeding innovation and facilitating greater scientific collaboration: its Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued rules making all federally funded published research freely available—without delay, embargos, or subscription paywalls—not just for cancer, but for all life-threatening and life-altering diseases. Open science pays dividends This practice, called Open Science, focuses on removing barriers to creating and disseminating ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Source Type: news