For Steve Jobs, 35,420 Reasons to Talk

Everyone is entitled to medical privacy, whether it’s a patient discussing test results in a doctor’s office or a celebrity checking into a mental health center.

But I would argue that Mr. Jobs has 35,420 far better reasons to start talking about his health. That’s the number of people expected to die of pancreatic cancer this year. I can only imagine the impact a person of Mr. Jobs’s global stature would have on awareness and fund-raising if he braved public disclosure of his condition.

And it would be brave. It isn’t easy to talk about personal health issues under the best of circumstances, let alone with the whole world watching. But people with pancreatic cancer need the kind of Hail Mary pass only a big player like Mr. Jobs could provide.