For the 20th anniversary of World Cancer Day, we asked our global team members, physicians, patients, caregivers, and advocates to share what progress in cancer care means to them.
Progress means all cancer patients get the treatment they deserve.[/e
World Cancer Day, celebrated on February 4, is a global initiative that aims to raise awareness about cancer education, care, and prevention. The initiative is led by our friends at the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), a member-based organization whose mission is to reduce the global cancer burden and promote equity.
Progress in cancer care means that our patients understand their disease.
Looking at some of the global cancer statistics from the World Health Organization, one stands out to us most: 70% of cancer deaths occur in low- and middle- income countries. Our access model supplies treatment and diagnostics to more than 17,000 patients across over 70 low- and middle-income countries. Patients are at the core of everything we do.
That’s why we were not surprised that the top answers we received from our global network on what progress means to them were about ensuring treatment is affordable and accessible, and that the quality of life for all people facing cancer is the same no matter where they live.
Hear from our global community on what they feel progress in cancer care means to them, and help us raise awareness by sharing these videos with your network and tagging #worldcancerday.
Progress means a better platform for survivors to express themselves.
Improvement with cancer means … I am able to continue living my life as an educator here in our community, just like a person with no cancer would.
Progress means any effort to decrease the cancer divide because it really should not matter where you were born, that you should be able to have the same chance to surviving cancer, no matter where you live.
To hear more stories, visit our World Cancer Day 2020 playlist.
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.
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.
When he was initially diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, Prashant’s first concerns weren’t whether he would be able to afford treatment, it was about how much time he had left…years? Months? Would he be able to complete his degree? Would he be able to care for his father?
But his doctor reassured him. Treatment was available, and before he could worry about the cost of it, Prashant was connected with The Max Foundation and worked on getting enrolled in the access program we administer.
Each year, The Max Foundation chooses a colleague to receive our Excellence in Patient Advocacy Award, honoring a member of our global team who has done something especially remarkable that year. On December 17th, we were delighted to present this year’s Excellence in Patient Advocacy Award to Viji Venkatesh, Region Head for South Asia, for her tireless dedication to the patients she serves.
