Yes, Cockburn is a writer not a political thinker. In the piece at hand,
the main points were useful. Beginning with his second paragraph:
>
Between 1900 and 1973, American life expectancy went from 47 to 71, but
most of this rise had taken place by 1949, when the average life span
reached 68. Much of the upward curve could be attributed to improved
survival rates for infants and young people.
...
Mostly shunned in all this are the major causes of modern disease, which
are environmental. Between 70 and 90 per cent of all cancer is
environmental in origin.
<
Cockburn gives no source for the cancer statistic, but just the other
day a researcher claimed, "cancer mortality rates have been steadily
dropping over the last three decades," going on to complain "these gains
are often unappreciated by the public due to the way the data are
usually reported." (
http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_articles/cancer_mortality_declining_and_public_doesn%E2%80%99t_know_it
)
Turns out, as the same researcher admits, "the World Health
Organization’s statistics on cancer incidence rates and mortality
proportions ... are increasing as the years go on and are usually the
only numbers that the public hears about. While they are accurate, Kort
and other researchers point out that they can be misleading if not taken
in context."
In other words, there is a rising tide of cancers; Cockburn suggests it
is "enviromental" (new industrial materials and such, smog, etc.); and
medical efforts to fight the cancers, while making progress, are being
overwhelmed.
Charles Andrews
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