Stories from around the world

Partnering to Bring Access to PCR and Mutation Testing to the Philippines

For people living with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), regular disease monitoring using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing is critical to achieving successful health outcomes. Mutation testing is another key test for individuals who fail to respond to one or more treatments. Despite the importance of these tests, they are unaffordable and therefore inaccessible for many people living with CML in the Philippines.

Announcing Max CEO as recipient of National Cancer Institute Global Cancer Medicine Humanitarian Award

The Max Foundation is proud to announce CEO, Pat Garcia-Gonzalez as the recipient of the National Cancer Institute Global Cancer Medicine Humanitarian Award at the U.S. National Cancer Institute 3rd Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research held in Boston on 25 March 2015.

With Love in Every Stitch Brings Smiles to the Philippines!

On October 23rd we visited the out-patient department of the Philippine General Hospital to distribute a recent shipment of hats that we had received from With Love in Every Stitch. It was amazingly beautiful to see the faces of small children queuing up to choose the hats they liked. The children were fascinated with the colors and designs of the hats. They gladly tried them on and proudly showed them to their parents and the other children.

The Max Foundation’s HQ now in Seattle’s Global Health Hub

After more than 15 years in Edmonds, Washington, The Max Foundation is excited to announce we have moved our global headquarters to the city of Seattle. We are pleased to be settling into our new office space on the north shore of Lake Union.

Building Community Through Art

As a new team member of The Max Foundation, I feel honored to work with an organization that advocates for patients dealing with blood cancer. This global health organization has helped thousands of patients get access to treatment, provide education and awareness, and bring a community together throughout the world.

Building a Cancer Coalition in Guatemala

In Guatemala, there are 14,200 new cases of cancer a year and from this amount 9,100 people die of cancer or 64.7%. Most of these diagnoses could have been prevented or better treated if diagnosed early. In Guatemala only the persons who have access to the national social security plan have free services and treatment, but poor quality and lack of medications or in most occasions. People who do not have social security have to pay for health services and for medications. As per statistics taken from Globocan 2008, the most common cancers in Guatemala are prostate, cervix, stomach, breast and lung cancers.

Advocacy, a Technology Breakthrough, and a Celebration of Life

On a dry sunny Saturday in Addis Ababa, more than 100 people sat in an auditorium at the Black Lion Hospital, intently listening to a panel of experts. Representatives from the Federal Ministry of Health, doctors, local and international NGOs, and concerned citizens, gathered together for the first time, to discuss the challenges of treating cancer in the country. People in the audience were not ordinary people; they were people who were affected by the dreaded C word, cancer. Most of them, parents whose children were undergoing treatment, some of them cancer survivors themselves.

Un Paso Max: Going the Extra Mile in the Dominican Republic

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.