United States Vice President Joe Biden. Image: Chris Kapa for the State Government of Victoria
A landmark cancer research and treatment centre was launched in Melbourne last week, and a special guest dropped by to tour the facilities: United States Vice President Joe Biden.
Visiting Melbourne’s new Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC), Biden announced agreements between United States and Australian research institutes, along with the Victoria and New South Wales state governments, to share data to help fight the disease.
The VCCC is based on the comprehensive cancer centre model used in the United States, and is the first of its kind in Australia.
“In this iconic, state-of-the-art building, the best and brightest medical minds will work side-by-side to fast-track future cancer breakthroughs and deliver first class care and treatment to patients,” Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews said in a media release.
For the US Vice President, the fight against cancer is personal: Biden’s son Beau died last year at the age of 46 due to brain cancer.
Biden leads the US government’s Cancer Moonshot, an initiative announced by US President Barack Obama in his State of the Union address this year, which aims to accelerate attempts to prevent, detect, and treat the disease.
The one-billion dollar VCCC will host up to 1,200 researchers and includes a 42-bed intensive care unit for critically ill patients. The Victorian government hopes to save ten thousand lives from cancer over the next ten years under its Victorian Cancer Plan 2016–2020.
“The VCCC will accelerate discoveries into clinical practice so all Victorians touched by cancer can receive the very best care and treatment sooner, and have a better chance of survival,” Victoria’s health minister Jill Hennessy said in a media release.
Speaking at the VCCC, Biden praised Australian contributions to cancer research. “What you’re doing here adds somewhat exponentially to the prospects of us being able to do in the next five years what would otherwise take 10 to 15 years,” he said.
“I’m grateful to the people of Australia and Victoria for their incredible devotion and commitment to this cause.”
Biden’s tour of the VCCC was part of a larger visit down under that also took in an Australian Rules football game and a visit to a Boeing factory in Melbourne, and a meeting with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney.
