Janaki is a happy 22-year-old woman living in Nepal and working at Century Bank. But this has not always been the case for her.
At the ripe age of ten years old, Janaki’s physical health began to deteriorate, and her family was left searching for answers. With the financial burden being too much for her parents to bear, they placed Janaki on her first plane ride at age 11 to meet up with her brother in Nepalgunj.
They continued to consult pediatricians around the country to no avail, until they finally heard the devastating words – Janaki’s blood test showed symptoms of cancer, but further testing needed to be done. Eventually, a doctor in Kathmandu prescribed a month’s supply of treatment necessary and Janaki was on her way home.
Reintegrating back into her home village in Bajura was a challenge in and of itself, that only got harder once her medication required administration every 15 days in Bharatpur. While Janaki relocated to Kathmandu for closer proximity to treatment, she often still had to endure these visits alone, which was eventually too much.
One day, Janaki’s father received a call from our colleague at The Max Foundation in Nepal, and their family’s glimmer of hope was restored. We were able to transfer her case fully to Kathmandu and eliminate the geographic and socioeconomic barriers that stood between her and healing.
After nine grueling years, Janaki now feels she has overcome the diagnosis that both her and her family imagined would consume her. Now, she lives a normal life and serves as an inspiration for others in her shoes.
The Max Foundation has been around the world and back the past 25 years, developing necessary systems to deliver lifesaving treatment safely and effectively to patients in underserved countries. With unwavering dedication from our team members and support from an entire ecosystem of partners and organizations that share in our cause, we proved the impossible possible. And as a result, countless lives have been saved that would otherwise be lost.
As we look ahead to these next five years, we’re laser-focused on changing perceptions so that it will no longer be acceptable to leave patients behind. We firmly believe geography must not dictate one’s destiny and that there is so much more that can be done to help our friends around the globe face critical illness with dignity and hope.
Over the next five years, four broad goals will help us accelerate health equity:
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.
Suddenly, I noticed a man sitting just opposite to me staring at me. I thought he was annoyed at my loud voice. so I reduced my volume and kept on talking with my friend. While explaining, my eyes went towards the man. Again I noticed he was keenly listening to our conversation.
Finally the stop came! I got down with my friend and took 10 steps. I heard a voice behind me calling “Madam, madam!”
For World Cancer Day, GlobalWA interviewed Max CEO Pat Garcia-Gonzalez to hear about the many lessons she has learned in this work, and how both cancer treatment and patients’ access to treatment globally has changed.
The Max Foundation is joining Poptivism — a consumer-driven charitable giving program that sells unique PopSocket Grips and donates 50% of the sales of those PopGrips to support a nonprofit’s mission (that’s us!). Please consider purchasing one of our Poptivism PopGrips today! With each purchase, you’ll help expand access to lifesaving cancer treatment the world over.
