The federal government should take a lesson from COVID-19 and establish an “Operation Warp Speed” for the development of a “vaccine” against age-related chronic disease.
By Joe DeSantis
Imagine if our response to COVID-19 was to ignore vaccine development and instead focus on getting better at treating the disease. This absurd strategy is precisely how we are trying to address the epidemic of age-related chronic disease in America — and unsurprisingly, we are failing.
According to the National Council on Aging, more than two-thirds of Americans over age 65 have two or more chronic illnesses. These diseases of aging such as heart disease, cancer, dementia and diabetes are responsible for seven out of every 10 deaths in the United States, and even this figure understates their deadly nature. COVID-19 has shown us just how susceptible people with chronic illnesses are to other diseases. Factor in co-morbidities and the toll from chronic disease is even higher.
