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Dollar for dollar food, water and education in the 3rd world has to have the greatest impact on human suffering, but they are likely a different color than you so it seems some would rather save some drug company R and D money.

> Dollar for dollar food, water and education in the 3rd world has to have the greatest impact on human suffering

Medicine in the 3rd world actually seems to outperform any of those[1]. On the other hand, it's medicine of the "let's take the well-known cures and distribute them to people who don't have them" variety, not the "let's research a cure for this rare but heartbreaking disease in children" variety.

[1] http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities

I stand corrected, all four in concert is ideal.

The same could have been said of Cystic Fibrosis, yet over the past 30 years, the life expectancy has gone from grade school to into the forties. This hasn't been the result of organic improvements in medicine, but epic expenditures and meteoric discoveries and drugs. One can hope that the cancer discovery to cure or rapidly increase quality/quantity of life is attainable.

http://killingcancer.vice.com