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.
This summer, India Country Head Viji Venkatesh is crisscrossing the USA to host Chai for Cancer addas and share The Max Foundation vision. Started in India, Chai for Cancer is our global initiative to invite our community to partner with us. There have already been a number of events in Houston, Charlotte, and New Jersey with more to come!
Cancer survivors like my mom are real heroes, not many people have the courage to look at death in the eye and say CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!
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.
