On Wed, 2014-08-27 at 11:25 +0800, Dibyo wrote: > I found this - > http://www.vox.com/2014/8/20/6040435/als-ice-bucket-challenge-and-why-we-give-to-charity-donate > - which looks at some stats on deaths vs. money raised. > > It's interesting that Diabetes and Chronic Pulmonary Obstructions (is this > related to Asthma?) > feel underfunded if one goes only by this chart. But another thing the > article mentions is that simple fixes in developing countries (as opposed > to the US) will have a far bigger impact than anything done in the US. This > seems very intuitively true to me.
I have no moral right to begrudge funds raised for rare diseases by well meaning people. But I am cynical by nature. Wherever there is money there will be people who look for a share of the pie. So when ALS research gets so much money a thousand groups will be looking for funding for their pet project. It will make great sense to somehow link your research project with something that could be remotely connected with neurological science that may "show promise" of being beneficial for people with ALS. And because of charity fatigue, after people have raised money for all sorts of causes that have received attention on the grounds that the squeaky wheel gets the most grease, a lot of unromantic and common problems do will not get the funding they need. But that's the way the cookie crumbles. shiv PS Asthma is a form of chronic pulmonary obstruction
