BCAC Deputy Chair Chris Walsh and committee member Sue Ellis recently returned from the 16th International Reach to Recovery conference “Reach Towards a New Horizon”, held this year in Taipei, Taiwan.
More than 700 delegates attended the conference, making this the largest ever ‘Reach to Recovery’. Delegates travelled from a wide variety of countries, with 430 from Taiwan, more than 100 from Malaysia and smaller representations from most other countries including 26 from Australia, four from New Zealand and just two from Ireland, the UK, Nigeria, Malta and Zambia, to name a few.
The essence of Reach to Recovery is to mobilise women to help others with breast cancer and to highlight the importance of peer support in surviving and adapting to life beyond breast cancer. Much of the information presented on peer support, advocacy and providing education and information to those with breast cancer reinforced the work that BCAC already does here in New Zealand.
This was highlighted by Chris’s presentation on Kiwi Stories of Breast Cancer, the BCAC web videos and our poster display on the videos. Prior to the session both Chris and Sue spoke with many delegates about the project and while the language barrier was challenging at times there were some good questions after the presentation. The poster itself generated a lot of interest and the flyers were very popular.
In all there were 60 posters and 70 speakers on the programme and there was a lot of interesting information about how breast cancer manifests in Taiwan and in Asia generally.
Among the plenary sessions a presentation by Dr Ling-Min Tseng, a Taiwanese surgeon, about young women with breast cancer in Asia, noted that the incidence of breast cancer is increasing significantly (by more than 100% over the last three years) in developed Asian countries such as Japan, Singapore, Korea and Taiwan, with mortality rates increasing dramatically each year. Interestingly, the picture of breast cancer amongst young women in these developed Asian countries is different from that seen in western countries. There is emerging early-onset hormone receptor–positive breast cancer in Taiwan, with a notable increase in luminal A subtype and fewer basal-like tumours in women younger than 35 years. This contrasts with western countries where young women are more likely to have basal tumours.
MD Yeong-Yuh Juang a consultant psychiatrist from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan spoke about body image after breast surgery. He detailed some of the research about psychological benefits of reconstruction, and also indicated that in Taiwan, family comes first which means many women are reluctant to have breast reconstruction. In addition, Professor Sin-Daw Lin noted that the Taiwan National Health scheme does not cover the cost of reconstruction and this financial issue prevents 20% of women from having breast reconstruction.
A session presented by Leonie Young from Australia about why peer support is so important was enjoyed by all the delegates. This was followed by sessions on adjusting to breast cancer, presented by Professor Suzanne Chambers from Australia and long term survivorship by Ms Susan Brown, the Director of Education for the Susan G Komen for the Cure.
Andy Miller from the Lance Armstrong Foundation (USA) spoke about the work the Foundation has done globally with consumers and about public perceptions of cancer. They organized global ‘Patient forums’ in which 30-35 cancer survivors spent a day together learning how to tell their stories. They then gathered together policy makers, service delivery people, clinicians and others who deliver cancer services to listen to these stories. The website at www.livestrong.org provides much relevant and readable information.
As well as BCAC’s presentation on the web videos, other concurrent sessions covered many topics including the priorities and challenges of breast cancer advocacy, strategies for fundraising and a session on the experiences of young women affected by breast cancer.
The next Reach to Recovery conference will be held in Cape Town, South Africa in 2013.
For more photos of Chris & Sue's 'Reach to Recovery' experience visit the photo gallery.
