Cancer

My uncle has been diagnosed with cancer. The doctors have given him 3-4 months. My younger brother and my cousin sister (uncle's daughter) accompany him everyday for radiation therapy. I don�t mind death, but I hate the idea of waiting for it you know?
Funny how I stumbled upon cancer related things before I got the news about my uncle: I was reading a Telugu novel (Title: Prarthana Author: Yendamuri Veerendranath) based on cancer. I learnt from this novel about how the drug control department in India had categorized cancer as a �rich man�s disease�; it means drug manufacturers can set any price they choose for the cancer drugs that they produce. [Headache tablets come under �category 1�; you can sell it probably at 100% profit. Cancer drugs are under category 4]. To my knowledge my uncle has never been rich, and I don�t think he�ll ever be. I don�t know how far the novel is accurate, but if what it says about cancer drugs being under category 4 is true, then it is unfortunate and �in my opinion- is undemocratic.

I also watched Matrix on HBO some days back. Somewhere before the climax, the agents capture Morpheus; the chief agent tells Morpheus something to this effect during the interrogation: �All mammals develop a harmony with their territory, but humans are the only mammals that destroy their territory and its natural resources. And humans multiply� when the territory becomes too small and after its natural resources are sucked out, they move to another place: there is only one living thing that exhibits a similar behavior: The virus. Humans are the cancer to this world��
That was not verbatim, but yes, that more or less is the essence.
Point to ponder: Why can't we - after putting a man on the moon, making the washing machine think, overcome time and distance barriers, yet to find a cure for AIDS, Cancer and common cold? Your thoughts?

Add to:del.icio.us| Digg| Reddit| StumbleUpon| Technorati