Patient Support & Advocacy

Be Among the First to Tour Our New Website!

Our first major milestone of 2016 is the launch of our brand new website! Redesigning our website has been both a strategic and soul-searching exercise that we have done all for you.

The Max Foundation
Patient Support & Advocacy

Light a Candle on March 9th to Honor Max

March 9th marks a somber anniversary; the day Max lost his 3 year battle with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). For those of us who love Max, who either knew him then or who know and love him now, this will always be a day of sorrow. The words that come to mind are words such as ugly, unfair, impossible, and the feeling is one of emptiness; a whole in one’s heart. Max was a real person, a beautiful young child, whose encounter with cancer was nothing but a tragic episode.

Pat Garcia-Gonzalez
Patient Support & Advocacy

Celebrating our Max Global Network Partners!

Each year I am humbled by the extraordinary work and dedication of our 68 Max Global Network partners, hailing from over 50 countries around the world, that tirelessly dedicate their...

The Max Foundation
Patient Support & Advocacy Treatment Access

Stories of Survival in Africa

Thousands of patients are diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) annually around the world. CML, like any other cancer, does not discriminate. It affects people from all regions and walks of life. However, unlike many other cancers, CML has an amazing story due to advancements made in its treatment in the last decade. It was only 15 years ago that a patient newly diagnosed with CML would have a prognosis of survival of less than 5 years with the treatments available at the time.

The Max Foundation
Patient Support & Advocacy

Sharing My Story for World Cancer Day

“CANCER” what comes to your mind as you read this six letter word? The five W’s, who, what, when, where and why comes to our head. In my life, who? Was my father, when? 2004, where? In his blood and why? The million dollar question whose answer we are still searching for.

The Max Foundation
Education & Training Patient Support & Advocacy

Can a Blood Test be an Incentive for Education?

For many patients, there aren’t many opportunities for them to learn about their disease directly from experts. So when the opportunity to hear from a hematologist at Naresuan University Hospital in Thailand, we were excited to maximize the event.

Wirat Saekuai
Patient Support & Advocacy

Congratulations to the 2015 Maximize Life Essay Contest Winners!

Have you visited the 2015 Maximize Life Essay Contest webpage recently? The Max Foundation is honored to share that the 2015 Maximize Life Essay Contest winners are officially released! Three winners in total, one for each of the French, English and Spanish categories, were selected by a panel of highly esteemed judges within the global health community. You may view the complete panel of judges here. We are exceedingly grateful for the valuable time and input provided by each of the judges. With 71 meaningful and authentic personal stories submitted, it was no small task to select only one winner for each language category!

The Max Foundation
Patient Support & Advocacy

The Maximize Life Campaign: A Variety of Events but a Shared Message in Latin America

In Latin America, the Maximize Life Campaign has become something like a tradition – a time when each patient organization creates an event or activity of their choice and powers it up for a campaign that takes on a life of its own! 13 patient groups from 11 Latin American countries joined this year's movement, bringing together patients and caregivers with the purpose of telling the community that cancer is an issue, that ignoring it is not going to make it go away, and that the best approach is to learn about it in order to know what to do about it. From governments to the general public, everybody can get involved in figuring out how to treat cancer patients as members of society and not as a burden.

Mercedes Arteaga
Patient Support & Advocacy

The Maximize Life Campaign: South Asia Embraces the Spirit of Max

The Indian subcontinent has always been characterized by the stoic inner strength of its population that has helped them overcome natural and man-made disasters that seem to always be lying in wait for them. Burdened by their large populations, poor economy and the inept administration of their largely unstable governments, it has fallen upon the people to come to their own rescue. And it is not so different for their health either. Besides the share of debilitating infectious diseases, many are facing a rising incidence of non-communicable diseases, such as cancer. The challenges here go beyond funding. There is fear, denial, and the heavy burden of stigma.

Viji Venkatesh
Patient Support & Advocacy

A Heart to Heart Interview About Max, in Honor of His Birth Anniversary on October 19th

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.

The Max Foundation
Patient Support & Advocacy

The Maximize Life Campaign: Asia Pacific Region Patient Groups Are Telling Their Stories.

Nothing is more powerful than storytelling, especially when it's told from a person's first-hand experience. In the Asia Pacific region, we are often known as “shy” community. We do not often share our stories publicly, especially a story about cancer diagnosis. We often have no one to turn to because we do not want our parents to worry; we do not want our children to feel the burden; we do not want to tell our neighbors who might be starting to avoid us because we are diagnosed with cancer.

Mei Ching Ong
Patient Support & Advocacy

The Maximize Life Campaign: Africa and Middle East

This year, like past years, 16 patient support groups in Africa and Middle East have joined the Maximize Life Campaign with enthusiasm and excitement. All the groups in Africa welcome back our friends from Sierra Leone who inspired us all with their resilience in the face of the Ebola epidemic that touched their country.

The Max Foundation