WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are visiting New Orleans Tuesday to underscore their efforts in finding better treatments for cancer.
Tuesday’s visit, according to the White House, will highlight the Biden Cancer Moonshot initiative to reduce the cancer death rate by at least half before 2047 and to improve the experience of people who are touched by cancer.
The federal government has provided about $8 billion to the National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health to help mobilize healthcare providers, research institutions, and advocacy groups to make progress on prevention, early detection and patient support.
Details of the visit were still being finalized Friday, a White House official said.
In March 2023, Jill Biden toured the Louisiana Cancer Research Center on Tulane Avenue with U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Baton Rouge Republican who had been a practicing physician at LSU charity hospitals, and with U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, a New Orleans Democrat. The Center is a collaboration involving LSU, Tulane University, Xavier University and Ochsner Health System.
The president will be meeting with Carter while in town.
Carter’s 2nd Congressional District tracks what environmentalists and some health officials call "Cancer Alley", which stretches up the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Every census tract in Cancer Alley ranked in the nation’s top 5% for cancer risk, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Carter said Friday he is looking forward to visiting with Biden as the president "further demonstrates the importance of eradicating cancer and reaffirming his commitment to doing all possible to end this scourge."
Cassidy will be attending another event that had been already scheduled, according to his Senate office.