Every year, throughout the month of October, we honor Max and his legacy by partnering with our network of cancer organizations to carry out the Maximize Life Global Cancer Awareness Campaign. It is a month of service that aims at decreasing stigma and increasing hope for people living with cancer around the world.
It is Max’s story that originally inspired the birth of the organization. It is all of the cancer survivors, advocates, and patient leaders around the world that continue to inspire us today. In this way, our past and our future are interconnected.
As a very special tribute, we bring two friends and colleagues together to talk about Max the person. Pat, our CEO and Max’s step-mom was interviewed by advocate, cancer survivor and team member, Fan. Their bond, their friendship, their mutual respect and their shared mission are all revealed through an intimate conversation.
Listen to Pat reflect on Max’s story and legacy.
To bring light to this powerful shared story, we availed an exciting new storytelling platform created by the non-profit organization called StoryCorps. By using StoryCorp technology, this meaningful journey is documented for posterity, as well as for sharing easily with all of you. We are looking forward to using StoryCorps for future storytelling opportunities.
We invite your thoughts and comments below in recognition of October 19th. In honor of Max and in partnership with all of you, we thank you for listening.
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.
September 22 is World CML Day! Our Region Head Mei Ching Ong caught up with our partner physician in Armenia to talk about the importance of this day and bridging access to treatment and care for CML patients worldwide.
Un Paso Max, meaning “Un Paso Mas” (One More Step) is a fitting name for a group led by cancer survivors who are willing to take an extra step to help others. Un Paso Max is the name of the CML and GIST patient association in the Dominican Republic. One can trace the origins of this group to a small meeting in 2008. It only took a bit of encouragement and support on the part of The Max Foundation to unlock the passion of a handful of courageous survivors in Santo Domingo, and the seed of a patient association was planted.
Health systems around the world are strained due to the high burden of costs. In an attempt to guide decision-makers in their choices on behalf of patients, the topic of value frameworks was born. These value frameworks evaluate all aspects of cancer treatment: clinical benefit, side effects, and improvement in patient symptoms or quality of life. But given the complexities of the multitude of health systems around the world, it is not a straightforward discussion. And right now, it’s a dialogue driven by thought leaders and health economists from the US and Europe. But there are critical voices is missing from this discussion: patients and patient advocates.
