The Malaysian Society of Hematology’s annual meeting, held earlier this year, took on special significance as it was the first face-to-face conference since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chairperson, Dr. Gan Gin Gin underscored the two-year gap in his message to participants, adding that the meeting’s theme “making sense of new therapies and technology” was chosen to reflect the many novel therapies and technologies now available for hematological diseases emphasizing that even with limited resources, the aim of improving a patient’s quality of life and survival was universal.
Four Max representatives along with patient leaders from Max Family Society Malaysia, a CML patient support group, attended and actively participated in the conference. Reflecting Max’s goal of amplifying patients’ voices, the Max Foundation representatives in their discussions with doctors and nurses, highlighted the value programs such as Max Schooling and Last Mile/Malaysia bring to patient care and quality of life. “We took this opportunity – our first in two years to have in-person discussions with health care professionals – to emphasize our core Social Determinants of Health programs and the critical role they play in patients’ lives and importantly, the state of their health”, said Nur Izzati Mohd Rodzi.
Max Schooling which provides educational assistance for patients’ children and Last Mile Services which helps cover the cost of transportation to and from hospital visits are core to the Max Foundation’s efforts to address the influence of factors such as the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live and age on patients’ health outcomes.
“A key aim of participating in this event was to re-establish our relationships (following the pandemic) with doctors and nurses. We learnt a lot in our conversations, from hearing about the challenges patients face to how Max’s programs are positively impacting patients here in Malaysia. Overall, an extremely productive engagement for all of us here”, said Nur Izzati Mohd Rodzi.
The Max Foundation is a leading global health nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating health equity. For 28 years, Max has pioneered practical, scalable, high-quality solutions to bring life-extending treatments and patient-centered health care to more than 100,000 people living with cancer and critical illness in low- and middle-income countries. Max believes in a world where all people can access high-impact medicines, where geography is not destiny, and where everyone can strive for health with dignity and with hope.
The Max Foundation’s new headquarters is still buzzing with all the great energy that filled our offices thanks to new and old friends that attended our recent Open House on April 9th. We welcomed our Seattle community to join us on what we called our world tour. Visitors were invited to move from region to region in order to learn about our work in Asia Pacific, Africa, Latin America and, of course, North America.
For many people facing cancer, the “last mile” in treatment access is a long, expensive, and recurring journey. But in Constantine’s case, even this journey may not be enough. The distance itself is not so far but the journey is long – 8 hours by public buses and transport. Constantine, like so many others around the world, has a rare form of leukemia called CML (chronic myeloid leukemia).
Each of us had to dig deep within ourselves to summon the strength, courage, and determination to keep going, putting one foot in front of the other, until we reached base camp and then set out in the dark early hours of July23rd for the summit. But we were not alone – we shared a strong connection and solidarity among our team of 23 that in just a few short days grew close through our shared experience.
