by theo farrant  & AP
It’s published
President Donald Trump has announced a new executive order intended to be used artificial intelligence (AI) Increased progress in the battle Pediatric cancer.
The order pledges $50 million (43 million euros) to the Pediatric Cancer Data Initiative, which was first launched during Trump’s first term. Officials say the funding will help collect and analyze huge amounts of medical data, use AI to improve diagnosis, speed up clinical trials and reduce prevention efforts.
“We’re going to connect artificial intelligence to everything else we have at hand,” Trump said Tuesday in his oval office. “And we’re looking for answers. Some people are really, really good, and some are absolutely good, and the other kids are getting better.”
Trump added that young cancer survivors gathered around a decisive desk.
White House officials declined to specify which companies or technologies could take part in, saying the details were still in development. But Trump suggested that the technology would eventually become widely available: “It would be very accessible to everyone.”
Childhood Cancer: Rare but Catastrophic
Although relatively rare, cancer is a major cause of early childhood illness-related deaths in children in the United States. American Cancer Society It is estimated that around 9,550 children in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer in 2025.
Survival rates have improved dramatically, but since 1975, the incidence rate has steadily increased since the 1970s, as pediatric cancer mortality rates have fallen by more than 50%.
Globally, cancer affects approximately 400,000 children and adolescents under the age of 19 each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Pediatric cancer research, which represents less than 10% of the pediatric cancer research budget, remains chronically underfunded.
Trump’s executive order doubled the National Institutes of Health’s commitment to the Pediatric Cancer Data Initiative, bringing total funding to $100 million. But that goes against the backdrop of wider cuts to federal science funding under his administration.
In recent years, hundreds of scientists have been removed from federal salaries, and hundreds of millions of dollars in grants (including those in support of pediatric cancer research) have been cancelled.
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, a national network that allows children to access experimental treatment for over 25 years, was said to be no longer supported by the federal government in August. Previous draft budgets also proposed cutting the National Cancer Institute funds by more than a third, but those cuts still remain in negotiations.
The American Cancer Association’s Cancer Behavior Network warns that the proposed reductions will “dramatically bring this country back in its ability to reduce death and suffering.”