People living with cancer deserve access to holistic treatment, including support, education, and the opportunity to connect with others in a similar situation. That’s why The Max Foundation and its partners offer more than just medicine. Sandra from Chile started participating in our treatment adherence program, Day by Day, after being diagnosed with chronic myeloid….
Understanding and recognizing the inequities in cancer care around the globe underpins the 2022-24 World Cancer Day theme to Close the Care Gap. The needs are urgent, and the opportunity exists to make progress toward equitable cancer care for all. We must listen to the perspectives of people living with cancer and let those lived….
This year, each of us had to learn how to support one another amid a global pandemic. In these difficult times, our mental and physical health have been tested and finding daily comforts is critical to our health. As each of us has taken steps to avoid infecting ourselves and reducing the risk of infecting….
Nestled in the mountains of Peru, there’s a place called Cusco where you’ll find the cancer patient group, Lazos Solidarios (Solidarity Ties). Yusef Herrera, created Lazos Solodarios to help cancer patients in this remote region in 2009 and today, the organization is supporting families facing CML and LLA, many of them children. Yusef, a dentist, became a committed advocate to close the cancer divide between these rural communities and their access to treatment and support.
It was an amazing 24 hours! To celebrate Max’s birthday anniversary, we went around the world through Facebook Live to visit each regional office, meet special friends, and learn how each of us contributes to caring and supporting people facing cancer. Never before has our team felt so close and united. Watch each of the….
Antonia was three years old when she was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, and 4 years old when she attended her first Maximize Life Campaign event in Nicaragua. Her mother’s testimony inspired everyone present, but what was most surprising was the testimony that followed – Antonia’s: “Hello, my name is Antonia, and I am happy to be here!” After getting to know her, every member of Alas de Vida adopted Antonia as their own example to follow. She became The Princess, the little warrior who spreads optimism in the group.
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!
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.
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.
