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BCAC welcomes new figures released by the Government last week (February 10, 2012) that show nearly 40,000 more women aged 50 to 69 have taken part in the Government’s free breast cancer screening programme in the 24 months to October 2011 than in the previous two years.
A total of 344,268 women participated in breast screening through BreastScreen Aotearoa in the two years ending in October 2011, compared with 305,839 women between 2007 and 2009.
Associate Health Minister Jo Goodhew says, "Within the overall increase, the percentage of Māori women and Pacific women taking part on the programme has had the greatest increase. Those numbers increased by 5138 Maori and 3038 Pacific in that time period.
Shocking Pink is a new New Zealand charity dedicated to supporting young women (aged 20-45) through their journey of breast cancer (and out the other side!) and is one of BCAC’s newest member groups.
Shocking Pink was co-founded by Kylie Richardson and Cheryle Robins, who during 2010 were both to embark on something far more unexpected, far more unplanned and far more trying than either of them could have ever imagined. It would be the year they both got the shock of their lives when they discovered their very own boobs were actually ticking time-bombs.
New Zealanders have a good understanding of ‘breast cancer’ thanks to a wealth of information and publicity, but when prefaced by the word ‘secondary’, misunderstanding and fear arise accompanied by hushed comments like ‘terminal’ and ‘lost the battle’.
In response, breast cancer organisations are stepping up to provide more information for the public, as well as targeted services for those diagnosed with secondary breast cancer … and women living with this stage of the disease are making their voices heard too.
The Government announced last week (Jan. 18, 2012) that medical oncology would be added to the cancer waiting time targets from the middle of this year. This means all patients who need chemotherapy treatment should receive treatment within the international gold standard of four weeks.
This announcement came as part of an update to the Government’s six national health targets.
BCAC chair, Libby Burgess says “We are delighted to see the implementation of a four week target for chemotherapy. The announcement gives patients certainty that our health system will deliver timely cancer treatment and it’s reassuring to know that the government is working to ensure that New Zealanders receive world-class cancer care.”
Significant research results announced during the recent San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) (December 2011) showed that adding a new targeted medicine, pertuzumab, to a combination of trastuzumab (Herceptin) and docetaxel chemotherapy extended progression-free survival by a median of 6.1 months in patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer compared with patients who received the combination therapy with placebo.
Sweet Louise is the operational arm of the Louise Perkins Foundation, a charitable trust launched in October 2006 with the vision of ‘positive lives with breast cancer’. Sweet Louise’s unique mission is to help improve the quality of life and well-being of women and men living with metastatic (also known as secondary or advanced) breast cancer.
As they continue to expand throughout New Zealand, a new position of ‘Fundraising Coordinator’ has been created to help develop and implement Sweet Louise fundraising initiatives to grow fundraising income.
BCAC member group, WONS, a women’s health charity is re-branding; from 1 January 2012 WONS will be known as Well Women & Family Trust.
WONS (Well Women’s Nursing Service) was founded in 1989 and since then has evolved significantly. Their new brand – Well Women & Family Trust - encompasses the focus on the health of women, the family/whanau and communities.
Each year WONS performs cervical smear tests for 3,000 high need women, educates over 10,000 women on a range of health issues, delivers health promotion training sessions to help local women become health advocates and conducts women's health days in low income areas.
Three new television commercials are being developed for BreastScreen Aotearoa (BSA) and will go to air in February 2012.
BSA programme leader Barbara Irwin says the current campaign is now over three years old and it is time for a refresh.
“We are very pleased with the performance of the current campaign – it has been well received and has contributed to an increase in the number of Maori and Pacific women having breast screening.
“The refreshed campaign will aim to continue this success, by increasing understanding of why breast screening is important and motivating women to have regular screening every two years.”
The 2011/2012 Busting With Life breast cancer survivors’ Dragon Boat Team unofficially opened their season with a Flippin' Freezin' Super 12 Regatta at Sylvan Park, Lake Pupuke on Saturday 20 August. A group of hardy souls braved the mid-winter chill to blow the cobwebs away and take to the water to join in the fun of this pre-season splash 'n' dash.
Auckland will host the 2012 Triathlon World Champs and one of our own BCAC staff members, Jane Powell, will be representing New Zealand in the age group races. To be able to represent New Zealand in the age group you had to qualify and earlier this year Jane decided to have a go.
