Pat Garcia-Gonzalez joins shortlist of nominees for UICC’s Outstanding Contribution to Cancer Control Award
Pat joins Paul Farmer, President Joe Biden, and other world leaders in “Driving innovation to advance cancer control equitably”
The Max Foundation, a global non-profit organization that aims to make lifesaving cancer treatment universal, is thrilled to announce its CEO and co-founder Pat Garcia-Gonzalez won the Union for International Cancer Control’s (UICC) Outstanding Contribution to Cancer Control Award in the Civil Society category. Given to leaders who drive innovation to advance cancer control in an equitable manner, this award celebrates a significant achievement in Pat’s relentless effort to expand access to cancer treatment for thousands of people worldwide.
“The cancer community’s recognition is a crowning accomplishment of Pat Garcia-Gonzalez’s life-long commitment to cancer care and control and it is our great pleasure to honor Pat with this award at the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit,” says Dr Cary Adams, CEO, Union for International Cancer Control.
Garcia-Gonzalez has made tremendous contributions over the last 25 years to accelerate health equity in cancer care across the globe. Her visionary leadership has brought access to high-impact medicines and treatment, care and support to thousands of cancer patients living in low- and middle-income countries.
“For 25 years now, The Max Foundation has worked tirelessly to develop all necessary systems to treat cancer in just about every corner of the world in a safe, equitable manner,” said Garcia-Gonzalez. “I thank the UICC and its judges for this amazing recognition that allows my team and I to continue acting as a voice for the forgotten patients.”
Today, Garcia-Gonzalez humbly accepted this award at the 2021 World Cancer Leader’s Summit on behalf of The Max Foundation’s courageous patients and their families, partner hematologists and oncologists, partner patient organizations and patient leaders, implementing partners and dedicated global team. This award embodies the organization’s belief that all people should have access to high impact medicines, geography should not be destiny, and everyone should be able to strive for health with dignity and with hope.
Visit the UICC website to learn more about the awards, the finalists and their collective work to reduce the global cancer burden.
The Max Foundation is a leading global health nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating health equity. For 27 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.
February 21, 2018 · The Max Foundation and Dr. Jerry Radich of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center are partnering to help tackle the problem of access to accurate tests for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) diagnostics in low- and middle-income countries through Spot On CML. Spot On CML is a low-cost, paper-based diagnostic testing method for CML, developed by Dr. Radich’s lab at Fred Hutch. Through a Spot On CML test, a physician spots a patient’s blood onto a paper test card and sends it to Dr. Radich’s lab for processing, where they perform accurate diagnostic testing on the samples even after weeks of transport. Once patients are diagnosed, The Max Foundation connects them with available treatments free of charge.