I recently traveled to Casablanca, Morocco, with our Africa Region Head, Cathy Scheepers. Together, we paid a visit to the Hôpital du 20 Août. The physicians there are among The Max Foundation’s longest standing implementing partners. Over the years, we’ve worked with them to provide more than 300 people with critical access to cancer treatment in Morocco.
During our visit, Cathy and I were privileged to spend time with a doctor and a patient who exemplify what our model and our mission are all about: helping all people face cancer with dignity and hope.
When we first arrived at Hôpital du 20 Août, we were warmly welcomed by Dr. Asmaa Quessar, Head of the Hematology Department. Dr. Quessar led us on a tour of the clinic, stopping every ten feet or so to greet and talk with patients. While we couldn’t follow their exchanges in Arabic, it was clear that she had a special rapport with them. Their love and respect for her was just as plain to see.
A meeting later that day with a sweet woman named Naima only reinforced our impressions of Dr. Quessar. Naima is a patient of Dr. Quessar’s. She had been enrolled in the Novartis Glivec access program all the way back in 2003. In fact, she was the first patient approved for the program in all Morocco, but things hadn’t started out so well. Naima had been diagnosed three years earlier in 2000, at the young age of 44. Though she had access to care, the treatments available at the time couldn’t keep her disease at bay. Glivec was not yet available, so Naima’s cancer progressed and she began losing weight and losing hair.
Thankfully, Naima had a strong advocate in Dr. Quessar. The moment the Glivec access program began, she signed Naima up for treatment. More than 15 years have passed since then, and Dr. Quessar has continued to support Naima every step of the way. Naima still visits Dr. Quessar every three months to get a check-up and refill her medication.
Their commitment to one another and to the course of treatment has allowed Naima to live beyond her cancer and maintain a good quality of life: good enough, as Naima will tell you, to watch her seven children grow and welcome too many grandchildren to count.
Taken together, Dr. Quessar and Naima are a shining example of how a treatment access program, a dedicated physician, and a determined patient can not only extend their life, but continue living it with dignity and with hope.
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.
At The Max Foundation, I am reminded every day of the critical role our physician partners play in saving the lives of thousands of cancer patients worldwide. Dr. Kazakbaeva from Uzbekistan is a shining example of a physician who goes above and beyond for people facing cancer.
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.
In 2011, Carmen developed a fever that lasted for weeks and began losing weight rapidly. After multiple doctors, tests, and misdiagnoses, she finally discovered she had chronic myeloid leukemia. Carmen feared her life was over. She even went so far as to sew her own funeral dress.
Eventually, Carmen learned that her cancer could be managed through oral treatment, but the costs were prohibitive. Luckily her physician was a Max Foundation partner. She was able to enroll in our access program for imatinib at no cost, and all seemed well for a few years—until, that is, she stopped responding to her initial treatment.
