Pat Garcia-Gonzalez, Chief Executive Officer at The Max Foundation, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“For the past 28 years, The Max Foundation has overcome barriers and developed the necessary systems to treat cancer in just about every corner of the world and demonstrated that it can be done safely.
As a result, our real time-on-treatment data shows that we have eradicated survival disparities from the form of leukemia that took my stepson Max. Today, if you are diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in 50 of the lowest income economies of the world, you have access to the same treatments, and your chances of survival are similar to that of a person diagnosed in a high-income country.
The key to our success is a relentless focus on each patient and a human-centered health system design. By building systems around the patient, we create a health system that is sustainable for patients and successfully eliminate disparities.
Yesterday, at the Clinton Global Initiative, we announced our 5-year Commitment to Action to more than double our impact to reach 100,000 people each year by 2030. As we tackle breast and other high burden cancers, together with oncologists and hematologists in LMICs, global experts, patient organizations, Ministries of Health, and with the unwavering support of industry leaders such as Novartis Global Health, our ambition is to broaden that human-centered health systems design.
Many years ago, I met Maria, a 36-year-old, hardworking, mother of 5 from El Salvador we were helping access treatment. She said she was deeply grateful for the medicine, but what really touched her heart was to know that someone cared. No one had ever cared about what happened to her before.
Today, I invite you to join us in caring about people like Maria. Geography should not be destiny, and all people should be able to face disease with dignity and with hope. Today, together, we can prevent unnecessary suffering and premature death from cancer, and because we can, we must. And we will—for Max, and for all those who left us too soon. Will you join us?”
More posts featuring Pat Garcia-Gonzalez on OncoDaily.