Eastern Europe/Central Asia Breast Cancer Advocacy Forum
The Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, Association of Oncologists and Radiologists of the Kyrgyz Republic, and Kyrgyz NGO Ergene, in cooperation with the University of Washington, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, and The Resource & Policy Exchange would like to announce the 4th Biennial Eastern European/Central Asia Breast Cancer Advocacy Forum, to take place in Bishkek on September 4-5, 2009. The Conference will be held at the Conference Hall of the Centre of Promoting Health and Informative Technology, located at 1 Togolok Moldo Street (Building #2).
The purpose of Breast Cancer Advocacy Forum is to increase breast cancer awareness in Kyrgyzstan and to strengthen collaborative efforts and affiliations throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The Forum will gather representatives from the scientific and nongovernmental sectors of Eurasia, Eastern Europe, Asia and the United States to discuss issues of women’s health and the increasing public health challenges of breast cancer throughout the region. Participants will also engage in scientific discussions on accomplishments from other countries in the area of breast cancer control. Leaders of breast cancer advocacy groups, health professionals and breast cancer patients themselves will exchange perspectives and best practices in breast cancer advocacy and care and will set the goals for outreach for the next two years.
According to the most recent World Cancer Report published by The World Health Organization (WHO), morbidity levels of cancer will be increasing globally at an alarming rate over the next decade. Cancer is already a leading cause of death worldwide: in 2007 it was responsible for close to 7.9 million deaths (around 13% of all deaths). According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women worldwide and the leading cause of death in females. One in ten of all new cancers diagnosed worldwide each year is a cancer of the female breast, and it is the most common cause of cancer among women in both developed and developing countries, with most (55%) occurring in developing regions.
Breast cancer is often a hidden disease in Eurasia and in Central Asia. As a result, the breast cancer challenge for many countries in the region, including Kyrgyzstan, is late stage of diagnosis, low awareness among women about disease risk factors, and unrecognized early symptoms of the disease. Additionally, breast cancer is highly stigmatized due to lack of knowledge about the disease origins, as well as extensive and expensive treatment. While regional health care systems focus on infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV, chronic diseases like have cancer have become critical public health concerns and require the development of national cancer control plans. Specifically, breast cancer prevention and early detection strategies are urgently needed to address the issue of disease stigma and unnecessary deaths.
The 2009 Breast Cancer Advocacy Forum is organized in collaboration with the University of Washington and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, the Ministry of Health of the KyrgyzRepublic, Association of Oncologists and Radiologists of the KyrgyzRepublic, The Resource & Policy Exchange (US NGO), and with financial support from Susan G. Komen for the Cure (USA). Past biennial breast cancer advocacy conferences have been held in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2003, Kiev, Ukraine in 2005 and in Minsk, Belarus in 2007.
Kyrgyzstan Contact:
Taalaigul Sabyrbekova, Director, “Ergene” Public Foundation
Telephone: +(996 312) 66-62-80 (office), +(996 555) 53-02-40 (cell), tsabyrbekova@gmail.com
http://www.ergene.org.kg/ Address:144,А.
Bokonbaev Street, room 504, Bishkek city, Kyrgyzstan.
International Contacts:
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Ksenia Koon: kkoon@seattlecca.org
Resource and Policy Exchange, Tatiana Soldak:
soldak@rpxi.org
