> Age-related disease is simply not an issue for the billions of young people suffering.
Cancer is closely related to the processes of aging, and aging research is highly likely to overlap with cancer prevention and treatment. (If only because the processes that cause cell aging and death are also the ones that prune potential cancer cells from the body.) So, aging research is also quite likely to help prevent childhood cancer or other early-onset cancers.
(That said, people always act shocked and appalled when cancer strikes those in their teens, 20s, and 30s, as though that's somehow worse than it hitting someone in their 40s, 50s, 60s, or older. I can't stand the phrase "before their time"; all deaths are too soon.)
There are +$5 billion invested in cancer research each year, this SENS charity has a budget of $4M a year. Basically $4M a year is not able to fund much at all.
I'm currently working on fixing that, both personally and via fundraising.
Cancer gets more attention because it's the thing written down under "cause of death" next to a loved one's name. But that's a proximate cause; the underlying cause is usually "aging".
Age-related disease is simply not an issue for the billions of young people suffering.
Actually, it is. A huge amount of resources is spent on trying to treat the symptoms of aging, and much of that comes out of the pockets of younger people.
The problems facing the wealthy elites are not the problems most people face.