Canadian leads international task force on breast cancer
Reported November 02, 2009
A Canadian breast cancer survivor and researcher at Harvard University is leading the fight against various cancers by helping to create an international task force aimed at obtaining cancer drugs at affordable prices and improving global access to treatment.
“We used to think breast cancer was a problem of only wealthy women, but now we know breast cancer shows no favourites. It strikes rich and poor women alike,” said Toronto’s Dr. Felicia Knaul, in a press release. “The big difference is that by the time the disease is diagnosed in poor women, it is often too late for effective treatment.”
Knaul, who is the head of the Harvard Global Equity Initiative and has conducted extensive research on breast cancer, has partnered with colleagues at Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute to improve early breast cancer screening in less developed countries.
Doctors will diagnose 1.35 million new cases of breast cancer this year across the globe, which will account for 10.5 per cent of all new cancer cases, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.
Those numbers are projected to increase by 26 per cent over the next ten years.
In 2020, 1.7 million new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed worldwide.
Women with breast cancer in the developing world are more likely to die from the disease because they lack access to care and affordable treatment, said Knaul.
Knaul is set to chair an international conference at Harvard called Breast Cancer in Developing Countries; Meeting the Unforeseen Challenge to Women, Health and Equity.
The three-day conference, which starts on Tuesday, will bring together cancer experts, government officials and global organizations to discuss how to deliver adequate cancer care and how to pay for it.
Source : Canwest News Service