DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global health leaders Susan G. Komen and the Caterpillar Foundation today commemorate a five-year partnership in the fight to reduce breast cancer deaths in Latin American countries with $746,791 in new grant funding to support programs focused on early detection, young women, and training for health care professionals.
Since 2011, the Caterpillar Foundation has committed a total of $5 million to support breast cancer programs in Brazil, Mexico and Panama, and made it possible for Komen to award 29 grants to organizations in these countries. To date, the partnership has reached:
- Over 10 million women and men with vital breast cancer information.
- 2,377 women with patient navigation and support services.
- 2,540 health care workers, providing the latest breast cancer training.
“Komen and the Caterpillar Foundation have already made an incredible impact in Latin America with an approach that reaches individuals and health care providers,” said Komen President and CEO Dr. Judy Salerno. “The Caterpillar Foundation’s commitment to this region of the world is helping to reduce the burden of this disease and, ultimately, save lives.”
In Brazil, advances in the country’s universal health care system have not adequately addressed increases in breast cancer, and geographic and social inequalities inhibit patients from receiving quality cancer care. In Mexico, more than half the women diagnosed with breast cancer are diagnosed at late stages of the disease (fewer than five percent of patients are diagnosed early when there are more options for successful treatment). In Panama, breast cancer patients face significant barriers in accessing care and must rely on only one cancer hospital serving the country’s entire population.
“The Caterpillar Foundation is proud of our history with Susan G. Komen and the impact our investment has had in Latin America,” said Michele Sullivan, President of the Caterpillar Foundation. “Ensuring women and medical professionals have education and access to resources is key to decreasing the breast cancer mortality rate.”
Six organizations in Brazil and Mexico are among several organizations throughout Latin America selected to receive funding for programs that aim to improve outcomes for local women:
Brazil
- Pio XII Foundation – Barretos Cancer Hospital seeks to increase the rates of early diagnosis of breast cancer through the first national training program for radiologists, physicists, technicians and screening program managers in Brazil.
- Hospital Perola Byington Study and Research Center will provide hands-on training to physicians, gynecologists and mastologists through a pioneer model for getting women from screening to diagnosis in one clinical visit.
- Instituto Oncoguia will prepare social workers from public cancer hospitals and NGOs in Sao Paulo to better inform and guide low-income breast cancer patients and their families on patient rights and access to cancer treatment.
Mexico
- Tomatelo a Pecho, A.C. will promote early detection and timely treatment of breast cancer training through a curriculum developed in partnership with the Harvard Global Equity Initiative to educate primary care personnel, medical students and members of civil society organizations in Mexico.
- Medicos por el Cáncer, A.C. will deliver targeted training workshops to improve the quality of breast imaging in public institutions and breast centers, and to improve the skills of surgeons, radiologists and radiology technicians.
- Asociacion Mexicana de lucha Contra el Cancer A.C. will develop tools and resources to educate patients and physicians on the issues facing young women with breast cancer in Monterrey, Mexico.
These programs and others support Komen’s goals of delivering needed education; supporting programs to detect breast cancer at earlier stages; and ensuring that women have access to quality care throughout the continuum of care.
Read more about this partnership and work.
About Susan G. Komen®
Susan G. Komen is the world’s largest breast cancer organization, funding more breast cancer research than any other nonprofit while providing real-time help to those facing the disease. Since its founding in 1982, Komen has funded more than $889 million in research and provided $1.95 billion in funding to screening, education, treatment and psychosocial support programs serving millions of people in more than 30 countries worldwide. Komen was founded by Nancy G. Brinker, who promised her sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would end the disease that claimed Suzy’s life. Visit komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN. Connect with us on social at ww5.komen.org/social.
